For Love
by Arcane Azmadi
Summary: The cycle of vengeance continued unabated. Naruto's mistake led inexorably to his doom, leaving Hinata alone. But on the night of the Blood Moon, she finds herself sent to a place and time painfully familiar to her. Gifted with a second chance, Hinata struggles to rewrite fate to save herself, her lover, and the entire world. Peggy Sue fic.
1. Chapter 1 - Tears for Armageddon

FOR LOVE.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own a great many things. There are many things I wish I did own. Right at this moment, I wish I owned a donner kebab with jalapenos because I'm kinda hungry. I also wish I owned Naruto. But as my father always said, if wishes were rhinos, we'd all be trampled to death. Actually, he never said that, but it's still true.

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Chapter 1: Tears for Armageddon.

 _"Now you have heard my story, the withered man rasped through cracked lips. "Let me hear your answer."_

 _There was a long silence as the boy stood with his eyes squeezed shut, clenching his trembling fist. "I… think you may be right," he finally answered. "I think I understand you."_

 _"Really?" asked the man in the chair, surprised in spite of himself._

 _The young ninja shook his head as if trying to clear it. "I understand you…. but I can't forgive you. I still hate you." Raising his head, he stared into the lavender, multi-ringed eyes of his foe. "But even then, I might have been able to let go of my hate. I might have been able to say I wouldn't kill you. But you did the one thing I could never overlook." His voice wavered, quaking with emotion. "In my whole life, only one person has ever told me that they loved me. Only one person has stood in front of me and said 'I am not afraid to die for you'. And you murdered her. For_ nothing." _He swallowed a ragged breath as tears threatened to choke off his voice. "For that… for_ her… _I_ have _to kill you."_

 _The air in the hideout began to throb with tension. Nagato returned the boy's glare without blinking. He had never really expected anything else. Although for just a moment he had dared to hope… "Then let us finish this."_

 _In an instant, Naruto's eyes burned with rage and fiery alien power. His clenched fist sprung open as nails extended into claws and a swirling vortex of chakra formed in the center of his palm. The air thickened as the crippled man in the strange device began to focus his power once again and the woman standing beside the machine stretched out her arms, seizing control of the thousands of pieces of paper that formed their hiding place, ready to collapse them and bind the boy._

 _But faster than thought, the jinchuuriki of the Nine-Tailed Fox exploded forward in a blur of vengeful fury._

 _"RASENGAN!"_

oooOOOooo

In the darkness of the cell, the only illumination came from the full moon shining through the window. From where she lay on her futon, Hinata gazed up through the bars, a constant stream of tears trickling from her pearl-white eyes and tracing their way across her face. Despair pressed down upon her as she lay there helpless. After all these years on the run together, so long spent living in danger, she'd thought she'd come to terms with the possible consequences, but every second felt like a death of its own. Even as she lay trapped in her cell, her lover's life was being drained away.

At this very moment, somewhere else in this fortress, Uchiha Madara and the surviving members of Akatsuki were nearing the end of the extraction ritual that would tear the Nine-Tailed Fox from Uzumaki Naruto's body and complete their Moon's Eye Plan. Hinata didn't know the exact details, but she and Naruto knew that if this came to pass it would be the end of the world as they knew it, with all of mankind subsumed into an eternal genjutsu by the power of the Ten-Tailed Beast.

And Naruto would not survive the extraction. He would die to see Madara's mad dream of world peace brought to fruition.

Hinata's stomach kicked and she reflexively laid her hand gently on her swollen belly. It was so cruel, she thought, for this to happen now, when their child was so close to being born.

"It's alright," she whispered to her baby. "I'll protect you. It'll be alright." Her voice caught in her throat. "I… I don't know how… but I promise… it'll be alright."

The doctor who'd inspected her only three days ago had estimated that she would give birth within no more than a week. Naruto had been searching for a secure place for them to take shelter in order for her to deliver. They'd made so many plans, prepared for so many eventualities. But less than a day later Madara had found them -most likely following a lead from that same doctor- and there had been no escape.

oooOOOooo

 _"We've been searching for you for quite some time, Naruto-kun." Madara's voice was calm, almost friendly, despite the situation. "You've been quite hard to find. But now it's time for you to come with us."_

 _Naruto tensed. This was bad. Madara, Zetsu, Kisame and Kabuto had caught them flat-footed and there was no way Hinata would be able to either run or fight in her condition. His only choice was to fight- but he doubted even he would be able to take all four of them at once. If he could just hold them off long enough for Hinata to escape to a safe place before fleeing himself, leading them away from her... Aloud he answered "And what makes you think I'll give up so easily after evading you for this long? You think you can suceed where Pain failed?"_

 _Behind his mask, Naruto could_ feel _Madara smirk. "Oh I think it's long past time for you to stop running, Naruto-kun. After all, with your child on the way, surely now is the time for a father to think of his responsibilities to his family, wouldn't you agree...?"_

 _The threat made the red rage boil up within Naruto, but he fought it down. The last thing he needed now was to lose control. But he would die a thousand times over before he allowed these bastards to get anywhere near Hinata and their child. "If you so much as TRY to hurt them-!" he gritted out between clenched teeth._

 _A sudden gust of wind howled between the trees and Naruto stepped forward as a blizzard of fluttering objects was carried on it towards him. Lashing out with his kunai he shredded as many as he could reach- but the majority of them were rushing past him, adopting a tight orbit around a startled Hinata. Turning in a flash, the young man was about to dive back to protect his lover when he froze at the sight of the figure standing behind her._

 _Konan. Her face twisted in hate, she held one hand up in front of her, ready to detonate the cloud of explosive tags circling Hinata like a swarm of deadly insects. She locked her gaze on Naruto's without blinking. "Give me one reason," the woman hissed in a low, deadly voice. "Make one move. Give me a reason to do it and I_ swear _I will."_

 _Naruto's quick-thinking mind raced through his options, searching desperately for a plan. While he had never had Shikamaru's genius for strategy, he had always been unparalleled at improvising ways out of seemingly impossible situations. Several ideas came to him almost instantly._

 _None of them would save his lover and their child._

 _Hinata was paralysed. She_ might _possibly survive the multiple detonations- but both she and Naruto knew that there wasn't even a slight chance that their child would. If she hadn't been so heavily pregnant she may have been able to protect herself with the kaiten, to fight, or even just to run, but with her body so weighed-down and close to delivery, even if she could fight, there was no way her baby would survive combat unharmed._

 _If it had been only her, she would have told him to flee. If he had refused, she would have fought beside him, no matter the chances of her survival, or even forced Konan to go through with her threat to prevent herself from being used against Naruto this way. She had done it before. She had been willing to die for him that time four years ago and she was still willing to die for him now._

 _But the life of their child was the one thing she could not ask him to sacrifice. And even if she could, she knew it was the one thing he would not risk, no matter what._

 _Uzumaki Naruto fell to his hands and knees as the members of Akatsuki closed in around them. Tears stung his eyes as the words he'd sworn he'd never say slipped past his lips._

 _"I surrender."_

 _He raised his head and stared into Hinata's eyes, a million words conveyed in a single look. If this was going to be their goodbye… "Just… promise me you won't hurt them."_

oooOOOooo

A shadow began to creep across the moon's surface as Hinata gazed up at it, stroking her pregnant belly comfortingly. The eclipse had begun. Madara had mentioned this- that the blood moon, which happened only once every fifteen years, would prevent them from completing the ritual to revive the Ten-tailed Beast until it had passed. Rather than being frustrated by the delay, the masked man had been elated, calling the eclipse a glorious heralding of the new age that would come. The extraction of the Kyuubi from Naruto would be already underway. It could only be a short time now until the ritual was complete and the whole world was engulfed by the power of the Uchiha's illusion. The young woman wondered what would happen to her afterwards. Would she be reunited with Naruto in the endless dream? Would they be able to meet their long lost friends? Would their child still be born? Might they even be happy somehow?

Hinata shuddered at the thought. The idea of being trapped in a happy delusion, born from the sacrifice of the man she loved, never being able to hold her real child in her real arms, was more of a nightmare than a dream. No matter how miserable the world became, she'd _never_ willingly turn her back on it and retreat into a fantasy as long as there was someone who needed her here. The young woman wiped the tears from her eyes and took a deep breath, smiling slightly as she felt the child in her belly kick again in response to her caress.

A sudden chill of foreboding ran up her spine. Hinata didn't know why, but she felt heavy, like there was an unseen weight pressing down on her entire body. She gasped as a shock ran through her, emanating not from somewhere in her body, but deep within her soul. A sudden feeling of hollow emptiness rose up inside her, as if part of her had been torn away.

She didn't know how she knew, but she could somehow tell without a doubt that Naruto was dead- and she and their child were alone.

A choked sob escaped her throat as tears filled her eyes again and she turned away from the window as the eclipse approached its peak and the moon's pale white surface began to darken to red. Only a short while longer and it would all be over…

Hinata gave herself to oblivion.

oooOOOooo

 _Was this a dream? Hinata was surrounded by blinding darkness, assailed by a deafening silence, hurtling through absolute stillness, crushed under the weight of an infinite emptiness. She wanted to scream but she could not even draw a breath._

 _Could this be the Infinite Tsukiyomi? Could something have gone wrong with it? Unable to move, unable to scream, unable even to breathe, Hinata could only wait for the terror to end._

 _Just when she thought she would go mad, a faint voice appeared in her mind, a quiet whisper she could barely make out._

 _"..the...you…ar..me…sen...ba...ti...your...ood...….us.…sa…orl...….ther…ove…ou..er."_

 _The void contracted one more time, then exploded around her._

oooOOOooo

With a scream, Hinata's eyes snapped open. Her heart was racing as if it were about to burst and she was gasping for breath like a marathon runner as she tried to shake off the residual terror of her bizarre nightmare. She pushed herself up into a sitting position in her futon, desperately trying to calm her racing heart.

Immediately she knew something was wrong. Her body felt awkward, different, like a set of clothes that had shrunk in the laundry. Her torso especially felt bizarrely light, as if haIf of it was missing. She just felt _wrong,_ not entirely Iike herself, as if someone had taken her out of her body and crammed her into someone else's.

Automatically she brushed her hand gently against her belly, to reassure her child that she was still there to protect it.

Her hand met empty space.

Panic shot through her like a lightning bolt as she looked down at her body and was immediately followed by an overwhelming horror. Her belly, which should have been heavy with her and Naruto's unborn child, was as flat as if she'd never been pregnant at all. Her baby was gone.

A scream rose into her throat and exploded into the dark of the night. Hinata clutched her hands to her head in terror, on the verge of hysteria. It wasn't enough for Akatsuki to have taken her village, her family and even her lover from her, they even had to steal her child from her womb. As Hinata's last sliver of hope was ripped away from her, she could only squeeze her eyes shut and continue to scream as she felt herself finally succumbing to the despair she'd fought against for so long...

"Hinata-sama, please calm yourself!"

The unexpected voice cut through Hinata's distress like a bucket of iced water poured over her head. Her voice cut off instantly and her eyes snapped wide open in shock. That voice, that manner of address- both were things she had not heard in years. No-one had called her 'Hinata-sama' since the fall of Konoha. And as for the owner of the voice...

"Chizuru... san...?" she whispered, her voice quavering. Slowly she raised her head and met a pair of warm white eyes like her own, filled with concern.

"Yes, Hinata-sama, it's just me," Hyuuga Chizuru reassured her. The old woman put a gentle hand on Hinata's shoulder. "Did you have a bad dream?"

Hinata wasn't sure that this wasn't a dream she was having now. The kindly old retainer looked exactly like she remembered. But Hyuuga Chizuru, the woman who had helped raise her ever since her mother had died barely a year after her sister's birth, had been dead for over ten years.

As the initial shock subsided, Hinata slowly began to examine her unnatural-feeling body. She'd been so caried away by the shock of her baby's disappearance that she'd failed to notice the other things that were missing. Most significantly, if the only thing that had changed had been the loss of her child, she shouldn't even have been able to _see_ her stomach. It wasn't until the seventh month of her pregnancy that she'd been able to see it past her embarrassingly-large breasts without some serious gymnastics. Instead, her chest was as flat as a washboard. Stealing her child made at least some kind of horrible sense, but why would Akatsuki want to steal her boobs?

Holding her hand up in front of her, she studied it carefully. Her fingers were tiny and delicate, the nails small and undeveloped. She ran her fingers through her hair, only to find it ended just below her ears, the same childlike bob cut she'd worn up until after Naruto had departed from the village for his three-year training trip. Finally, she looked around the room she was lying in. Rather than the bare stone walls and barred window of her cell, she was sitting in a small, modestly decorated bedroom with tatami matting on the floor, a sliding _fusama_ panel door, a few pieces of furniture and an open window fitted with paper _shoji_ screens. The room was familiar to her, so much that it hurt. This was her bedroom at the Hyuuga manor, that she'd lived in for practically her entire childhood.

"Hinata-sama...?" Chizuru repeated, concern audible in her voice. "Are you alright?"

Hinata stared at her blankly. "What... is this...?" she stammered. "Is this some... some kind of trick? Some kind of genjutsu?" Was this what the Infinite Tsukiyomi was? But if that was so, surely the all-engulfing delusion wouldn't be so easy to see through, would it? Was this some other devious trick of Madara's? But what purpose could he possibly have in making a pregnant teenage captive dream of her childhood?

Chizuru's wrinkled brow furrowed even more deeply at her young mistress' words, but she smiled reassuringly at Hinata and gently took one of her small hands in her own weathered ones. "A genjutsu? Oh Hinata-sama, you _must_ have been having a nightmare!" The retired kunoichi folded her fingers, still encompassing Hinata's own, into the seal to dispel genjutsu. _"Kai!"_ Hinata felt a brief pulse of chakra ripple through her tiny body, enough to disrupt any genjutsu placed on her, but the world remained unchanged. "There, you see?" the old family retainer chuckled,"It was all just a dream. You should try to get back to sleep, Hinata-sama."

Slowly Hinata allowed Chizuru to lay her gently back down on her futon and tuck her in. The old woman's hand smoothed the girl's bangs back from her forehead, then she quietly rose to her feet and moved to the open door of the room to leave. Before sliding the _shoji_ closed behind her, Chizuru gave Hinata one more gentle smile. "Good night, Hinata-sama. Sleep well." Then she was gone.

Despite Chizuru's reassurances, Hinata lay in her futon with her eyes wide for only a moment before rising silently to her feet. Her mind was awhirl with confused, chaotic thoughts and questions that she had no answers for. Was it possible that Chizuru-san was right about it being a dream- _all_ of it? Had she only dreamed of becoming a ninja, of joining Team 8 alongside Kiba-kun and Shino-kun, of the Sand and Sound invasion, of the destruction of Konoha at the hands of Pain and her years living on the run?

Had she only dreamed of Naruto-kun, the love they'd shared, his kisses and his embraces and-? She blushed briefly. Had she only dreamed of the strength and courage he'd given her, the nights they'd spent securely in each other's arms, the child they'd made together?

Had it all been a dream?

Tears overflowing her eyes once again, she stumbled to the window, pushing the _shoji_ open with trembling hands. As she gazed out into the familiar but long-gone grounds of the Hyuuga mansion's garden, her eyes were drawn to a glow in the sky- and she gasped.

The moon glowed the color of freshly-spilled blood as the eclipse's peak began to pass. Hinata stared up at the glowing eye in the night sky, her mind awhirl. Could this just be a coincidence, that the same eclipse had been shining over her in her cell as well as down on this long-forgotten room from her childhood? Madara had said the eclipse came exactly every fifteen years, so...

Fifteen years. Could it be possible? Could she somehow have been sent back in time fifteen years to her childhood? Could she _really_ be here again?

Could she possibly have been granted another chance?

oooOOOooo

 _Clutching her sleeping robe around her body, Hinata walked silently across the tatami matting, carefully stepping around Sakura's slumbering form. Her roommate rolled over in her sleep as Hinata passed, mumbling something incomprehensible. On the other side of the room, Ino and Tenten were sleeping soundly in their own futons, unladylike snores drifting from the blonde girl's open mouth. Doing her best to remain silent, Hinata carefully slid the_ shoji _door open and stepped out onto the balcony, closing the door again behind her._

 _The view from the second floor of the inn was startlingly beautiful, letting Hinata look all the way across the moonlit valley below. The full moon illuminated the entire scene, shining silvery light dancing off the surface of the stream that ran down from the hills and the leaves still wet from the afternoon's rain. The former Konoha-nin marvelled at how quickly the clouds had cleared, leaving the sky clear and glittering with the light of a million stars, as she stopped at the edge of the balcony and rested her hands on the railing, gazing out into the night._

 _A rattling to her right alerted her to the screen door of the next room over sliding open. Looking across, her heart skipped a beat as Naruto stepped out, carelessly shoving the door closed behind him. Walking across to the railing, he leaned on it wearily, staring forward blankly into nothing._

 _Although both rooms shared the same balcony, Hinata hesitated to walk across to join Naruto. Even though it had been a week since they had officially started "going out" in the aftermath of the destruction of Konoha, (her face still flushed red at the thought that she was now Naruto's_ girlfriend) _she was still hesitant to be too familiar with him. At this moment Naruto looked perturbed by something and Hinata struggled with whether to approach him, or whether he'd prefer to be left alone._

 _Before she could decide, Naruto quirked his head and turned to look at her as if he'd somehow sensed her presence even without her making a sound. Their eyes met and Hinata held her breath as he straightened up. "Hinata? What are you doing up at this time of night?"_

 _Even after everything they'd gone through, Hinata still had to struggle not to blush. "Um, I couldn't sleep. I just thought I'd step out for breath of fresh air." She shifted awkwardly. "Um, what about you, Naruto-kun? Why are you out here?"_

 _Her new boyfriend visibly struggled with the question for a second as he searched for an answer, then his shoulders slumped and he smiled weakly at her. "Eh... pretty much the same reason I guess. Couldn't sleep, even if I didn't have to share a room with Chouji and his snoring. Too much to think about."_

 _"Oh... I see..." Hinata answered. She shifted her weight uneasily, wondering if she should ask Naruto what was bothering him- after all, with the things that had happened over the last few weeks, there were so many possibilities. Plucking up her courage, she walked hesitantly over to stand beside him at the rail. "Um, Naruto-kun, would you... like to talk about what's bothering you...?"_

 _Naruto didn't look at her, just continued to stare out at the moonlit valley and for a moment Hinata thought he wasn't going to answer. Then he took a deep breath. "I was... thinking about... what happened with Pain. After you... told me... how you felt about me and he..." His voice caught in his throat. "...stabbed you, I felt more hate than I ever had before . Even after my Dad helped me get the Kyuubi back under control, I... I just couldn't forgive him for... what I thought he'd done to you. I... couldn't let him walk away after that, so... I killed him."_

 _Hinata had no idea how to respond to that. While she'd heard how the battle between Naruto and the destroyer of Konoha had ended, this was the first time Naruto had ever spoken of his own feelings about that horrible clash. The thought that Naruto had been driven to kill in revenge for what Pain had done to her was simultaneously gratifying and yet profoundly sad. Hinata didn't know what she should say to him._

 _Naruto hunched his shoulders and pressed his chin down into his chest as he leaned on the wooden rail. "I still hate Pain for that. I'll never forgive him. Even after I found out that... you were alive, I still hated him. It's just that..." His voice started to choke in his throat. "I know that killing him..._ isn't _what I should have done."_

 _Hinata crept closer as the words began to spill from her boyfriend's mouth at an increasingly rapid pace. "I... I promised the pervert hermit that I'd end the cycle of hatred and revenge- the killing as payment for killing. But... when it came down to it, when Pain took someone special to me away, I... I_ failed _him! I didn't have to_ forgive _Pain, I just had to... all I had to do was... was_ not kill him, _but... I couldn't... I just... I kept seeing your bleeding body at the moment he pulled that stake out of you and... hearing you tell me that... that you l-love me and..." He struggled for words as the tears overflowed from his eyes, "...and I couldn't let him live. I couldn't do that one, simple thing that might have ended the killing for good. I failed. Now that woman, Konan, is out there and she's ready to do anything to get revenge on_ me _for killing Pain, and I don't know what I can-"_

 _Naruto's tearful tirade cut off and his body went rigid as he felt arms wrap gently around him from behind. As he'd been spilling his heart out, Hinata had silently come up behind him and, unable to stand there and listen to him blaming and berating himself any longer, had followed her instincts and taken him in her arms, resting her head against his broad back. "It's alright, Naruto-kun. It's alright. There isn't a single person in Konoha who wouldn't have done the same in that situation. You can't say that you did the wrong thing."_

 _Barely conscious of his actions, Naruto turned in his girlfriend's embrace and returned the hug, wrapping his arms around her and clinging to her as if her body was a lifeline. His voice choked with emotion. "But... but that's not good enough, Hinata! The whole reason the cycle of revenge that created Pain even exists is exactly that- because when everyone has the choice between taking revenge and letting it go, they all do the same thing! I... I had the chance to do better, to_ do the right thing _and... and I couldn't. And now things are like this-" His body trembled in Hinata's arms. "-and I just... I just-"_

 _Hinata couldn't bear it any more. Seized by an impulse close close to madness, she lifted her head, grasped Naruto by the chin and pressed her lips firmly against his. It was their first kiss together -and her first kiss_ ever- _but it was heartwrenchingly bittersweet, tainted by the salt taste of Naruto's tears._

 _Naruto flinched in shock as Hinata's lips pressed against his, but within the space of a heartbeat he had already started to melt. His mouth moved over hers as if searching for something, seeming hungry, almost desperate as his girlfriend pressed her body in closer against him, holding him tighter. Whatever it was he was searching for, Hinata gave him everything she had, anything to relieve him of his guilt and grief._

 _The two young ninja clung desperately to each other in the still night, drawing what strength they could from the embrace, silently praying it would be enough to get them through whatever lay ahead..._

TO BE CONTINUED...

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AFTERWORD:

Welcome to my second full-length Naruto fanfic. This one, despite the clear NaruHina base, is very much a different beast from Secret Songs of the Ninja. Where Songs was a 'For Want of a Nail' fic which is (in my opinion) most notable for disregarding almost all post-timeskip canon in favour of sticking to the "original" story, For Love is a 'Peggy Sue' fic which _mostly_ follows the whole series canon (as best as I can anyway, the Naruto canon went _completely_ snooker-loopy by the end- I mean come on, _Kaguya?!_ ).

Anyway, I was inspired to write this story by two things. The first was another Peggy Sue fic (which I shall leave nameless) where a bunch of characters, including Naruto and Hinata, were all sent back in time to their child bodies together. Unfortunately, the fic completely neglected to address what I (an ardent NaruHina fan) considered the most interesting aspect of the concept- how Naruto and Hinata, an actual _married couple_ in that fic, would handle having to remain mostly separate from each other while they re-grew up again. This got me to wondering what would happen if Hinata was sent back alone (I'm sure it's been done before, probably even countless times, but I've never seen one yet) and that was that.

The second thing that influenced this fic was the origin of Hinata's "bad future". The overwhelming majority of all Peggy Sue fics start from this point (the rest have the characters living perfectly happy in a good future and being sent back against their will or by accident). The reason for the bad future is often as simple as "they lost the 4th Shinobi War against Madara" or something similar, but I remembered something I'd read on TV Tropes once. Apparently a not-inconsiderable number of readers were actually bothered by the fact that Naruto chose to spare Nagato at the end of the Pain Invasion arc, feeling that he should have killed Pain in vengeance for what he did. Now, this was listed on TV Tropes under the trope of 'Completely Missing the Point', but it still got me to wondering- what _would_ have happened if Naruto had finished Nagato instead? Well as this fic plays it out, everything would have gone wrong.

Yes, I know "Madara" is really Obito (who doesn't), but nothing ever forced him to reveal that to Naruto in this continuity. Kabuto allied with Obito, but since the Shinobi Alliance was never formed and the 4th War did not happen as it did in canon, he either didn't revive the real Madara or simply kept him in reserve as a final weapon and never had to use him. It's not important anyway. (By the way, if you're wondering what happened to Sasuke, Kabuto got him as he'd originally planned. It's also not important anyway. I hate that guy)

The last notable thing that makes For Love different from all my other fics is that it's the first fic written completely on my tablet rather than my desktop PC. I usually work on it on the train or any other time when I'm out of the house with some free time on my hands, like when I'm stuck in a waiting room. This makes it quite a different, more casual writing experience to Secret Songs, which I have to actually have to sit down and commit to working on. I don't know whether that comes through in the writing at all, but it's still worth mentioning. I've actually written several chapters of this fic in advance already, in the hope of avoiding the MASSIVE gaps between releases that have crippled Secret Songs (or at least delaying the unavoidable stage where they start to happen) so I'll be releasing them at a somewhat steady pace over the next few months.

While I wouldn't expect anyone to give this story a rec on the TV Tropes Naruto fanfic recs page yet based on the strength of just one chapter (this fic has much, MUCH shorter chapters than Secret Songs), if you have enough confidence in me to want to do so anyway, I wouldn't say no. Just a thought. Either way, though, I'd _definitely_ appreciate any reviews you'd be willing to give me. Nothing motivates a writer like seeing their work appreciated, after all.

NEXT TIME...

Sent back to her own childhood, Hinata is overwhelmed by the potential of the opportunity she's been given- but thoughtless actions could have devastating consequences, and fate has no intention of giving her time to think. As she takes the first tenuous steps in her new life, will she be able to change things for the better, or is she helpless against the tides of destiny? Find out in chapter 2 of For Love, **'Hope for the Past'.**


	2. Chapter 2 - Hope for the Past

FOR LOVE.

 **Disclaimer:** You say I can't write? Well... you fight like a cow!

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Chapter 2: Hope for the Past

Hinata groaned as she was roused into wakefulness, forcing her eyes open to the bright morning light beaming through the open window of her room. The kindly, wrinkled face of Chizuru blurred into focus leaning over her as the old woman shook her gently by the shoulder. "Wakey wakey, Hinata-sama! You can't sleep in today, you have a lot ahead of you."

Rubbing her bleary eyes, Hinata forced herself to sit upright and smiled weakly at the old nursemaid. "Ah, good morning Chizuru-san. I'm sorry about sleeping in, I'm afraid I didn't sleep very well last night." In truth she had barely gotten as much as an hour of sleep; once she had grasped the enormity of her situation she had lain awake all night with her mind frantically pondering the possibilities, only collapsing into slumber when her child's body could not sustain her through her fatigue any longer.

Chizuru clucked sympathetically. "Ah, that nightmare you had kept you awake did it? Poor dear, I've had nights like that myself." She helped Hinata to her feet then went over to the wardrobe in the corner and began picking out a yukata for her young mistress to wear. "Still, the day goes on whether we are ready for it or not, so it's best to put on a smile and do our best, wouldn't you say Hinata-sama?" She turned and beamed an encouraging smile at Hinata.

The once-more-young girl couldn't help sincerely returning the smile to Chizuru. She'd almost forgotten how cheerful the old woman was, how she always tried to make Hinata smile whenever she'd been feeling down. She'd truly missed her in the years since she'd quietly passed away in her sleep one night when Hinata was seven. With Chizuru's help she quickly dressed, neatly brushed her short hair, and headed out towards the dining room, to have breakfast with her father for the first time in over four years.

The thought of being able to see her father again was finally enough to distract her from her preoccupation with her new situation. When Hinata, Naruto and the small group of friends they'd been able to trust had deserted Konaha and escaped Shimura Danzo's tyrannical attempt to seize control of its shattered remnants following Pain's devastating attack and Tsunade's death, Hiashi had remained behind to fulfill his responsibilities to the remaining members of the Hyuuga clan. While he'd tacitly given his elder daughter his blessing to take part in their group's desperate mission to defeat Uchiha Madara and Akatsuki, Hinata knew her father had secretly believed it to be suicide mission and was already mourning her as lost even as they'd said their farewells. Forced to go off the grid, Hinata (and Neji, who had accompanied them) had never seen any member of their family again, and when she had heard of the Hyuuga clan's annihilation after the remaining members of Akatsuki, led by Madara, had attacked and destroyed what was left of Konoha, she knew she never would. As far as she'd believed, following Neji's death she and her unborn child would be the last of the Hyuuga clan.

Now that she was apparently back in her own past again, the question of how to relate to her father was suddenly of pivotal importance. Among the thousand questions that had whirled around in her head for hours last night, this one was the most immediate. Hinata had pondered whether to come clean with him and tell him everything, before dismissing that as foolishness- Hyuuga Hiashi had always been a serious, pragmatic and (to be completely honest) unimaginative man, and the idea that he would listen to his five-year old daughter tell him a fable about her really being the twenty-year old pregnant lover of the village pariah-turned-hero, sent fifteen years back in time into her own childhood body after the destruction of the world by a supposedly long-dead madman was so absurd as to be laughable. So with that off the table, Hinata was left with the choices of trying to replicate her original childhood as closely as she could recall it to avoid making unexpected changes to the timeline, or attempting to use the experience she'd gained from fifteen hard, bitter years of struggle to try and do better.

It was no choice at all, really. But that then raised the next question- where should she begin?

Padding silently into the dining room, Hinata caught her breath at the sight of her father already sitting in his normal position at the head of the room, his breakfast untouched in front of him. Hyuuga Hiashi had always insisted on the entire family dining together whenever possible, letting the knowledge that she was making everyone wait serve as a strong deterrent against tardiness or idleness while Hinata was growing up. Hinata had been trying to brace herself for the sight of her father again, but her preparations had been in vain against the rush of feelings that surged through her as she entered his presence for the first time in years.

But if the sight of her father had moved her, that was nothing compared to what she felt when she saw the two people seated to his left. To those who didn't know better, it looked like the Hyuuga clan head had decided to eat breakfast in the company of one of his own shadow clones, so similar was he to the man sitting beside him, the only difference between them being the second man's plainer clothing and the Leaf forehead protector on his forehead that Hiashi himself rarely if ever wore any more. But those who knew them could tell Hyuuga Hizashi apart from his older twin brother with a single look. It wasn't just the extra lines that had prematurely marred Hiashi's face from the stresses of running the clan, especially since the death of his beloved wife Hotaru. Hizashi carried himself differently from his brother, unobtrusive where Hiashi stood out, silent where Hiashi would always make himself heard, almost like his brother's shadow given solid form. Hinata could barely remember her uncle, but she still remembered the smoldering resentment her father had once sensed within his brother in the branch family that had caused him to use the Caged Bird Seal to punish Hizashi before the eyes of both of their children.

It was when she laid eyes on Neji, seated on the tatami beside his father, that her eyes widened. Her father she had been expecting and she hadn't been too surprised to see her long-dead uncle, but Neji gazed back at her as she entered the room with guileless white eyes that stared out from beneath his bare, unmarked brow. The last time she had seen her cousin alive back in what she supposed she should now call her "old life", he and Tenten had struck out from the rest of their group together on their own, disguised as Naruto and herself, in a desperate attempt to lead their pursuers away from the others. They'd succeeded in drawing Akatsuki off and making them lose the group's trail for quite some time, but Hinata had wept in Naruto's arms for an entire day when they'd received word that the two of them had died fighting Hoshigaki Kisame and Yakushi Kabuto somewhere near the border of the Country of Waves.

Now as she stared at her cousin sitting beside his long-dead father, his forehead unmarred by the seal that would poison his life with bitterness for eight long years until his battle with Uzumaki Naruto, it took all of Hinata's self-control to keep her eyes from flooding with tears.

Hiashi frowned. "Hinata, what are you standing there for? Come and sit down so we can begin."

The girl blinked, realising that she'd been wool-gathering. "Um, I'm sorry, Father." She hastily crossed the room to kneel down on the _zabuton_ cushion at her father's right side, sitting in the _seiza_ fashion she'd mastered from years of practice. She felt a momentary pang as she did so- as miraculous as this chance to see her father and Neji again was, she couldn't help feeling a wistful longing. If she'd only been sent back a year further into her childhood, this place by her father's side would still have been occupied by her mother.

Still, as Chizuru-san took her own place halfway down the hall and the assembled Hyuuga clan finally picked up their chopsticks and began to eat, Hinata rejoiced internally at the true scope of the opportunity that had been laid before her. When she'd been contemplating her new situation in the early hours of the morning, she'd been more concerned with the possibility of averting the greater catastrophes that had befallen Konoha and the rest of the ninja world in the wake of Madara's campaign to reunite the Tailed Beasts, and at the very least preventing her and Naruto's eventual capture, his death and the completion of the Moon's Eye Plan. But looking across at her cousin as he cheerfully scooped rice from his bowl into his mouth, Hinata made a decision: she would stop Neji from being branded with the Caged Bird Seal, and she would prevent the events that had led to his Hizashi's death, leaving him an orphaned ward of the uncle he'd -fairly or not- blamed for the tragedy.

"Hinata." The girl jumped as her father addessed her. The clan head was frowning. "Is something the matter? You haven't touched your food."

Guiltily, Hinata realised her attention had wandered again. "Um, no Father. I'm sorry. I was just thinking about something." Hastily she picked up her bowl and chopsticks and delicately lifted some rice up to her mouth.

Hiashi nodded. "Good. You have much to do today. After breakfast you have to go and be measured for the new birthday kimono you will wear tomorrow."

Hinata's heart froze. _Tomorrow?!_ Her birthday, the day Neji would be taken and branded with the Caged Bird Seal, was _tomorrow?_ As her mind raced, she realised that added up perfectly with her theory- only the day before Akatsuki had caught up with the two of them, Naruto had joked about what a perfect present it would be if their child was born on her own birthday, which at the time had been less than a week off. For obvious reasons she'd forgotten about it after being captured, but the night of the eclipse had indeed been only two days before her birthday.

Her heart sank as the implications of this struck her. If she was going to save Neji from the curse of the Caged Bird Seal she had only a single day to do so. She'd assumed she had weeks, even months to work out the best course of action to take, to work towards turning her father away from the cruel traditions of the Hyuuga clan, but time was impossibly short.

She noticed her father glaring at her sternly and hastily resumed eating before he chided her again. Internally, though, doubt was already beginning to erode the optimism her new life had offered her. Would she even get the _chance_ to make a difference this time around?

oooOOOooo

Hinata had no time to ponder her dilemma once breakfast was completed. Chizuru took her out to be measured for her kimono as soon as the meal concluded. Walking the streets of Konoha with her small hand clasped in the old kunoichi's weathered one, Hinata couldn't help but stare around her in wonder. Just as with her father, she hadn't seen the village in almost four years, ever since Pain had flattened it with his devastating gravity powers and she had fled the ruins with Naruto and their little group. She'd forgotten -or perhaps had never before realised- how much happiness there was in the everyday bustle of the normal citizens of Konoha going about their business. Looking upon the same scenery she'd already seen as a child, seeing it now through eyes that had already witnessed four years of battle, death and loss gave her a new insight into how precious the daily life she was seeing around her really was.

Chizuru led her to a small but expensive-looking and exclusive shop on the main street of Konoha, only a short way from the Hokage's tower. The owner, a dignified woman almost as old as Chizuru herself, measured the dimensions of Hinata's child body stoically and silently, lifting Hinata's arms to measure her inseam and stretching her tape measure across the girl's slender shoulders. Hinata barely paid any attention- while a new kimono may have been an exciting thing when she had actually been five years old, now she had more important things to worry about. The gears in her head turned constantly as her body stood motionless, trying to get her thoughts organised into some kind of plan. With less than a day until Neji would be taken and branded with the Caged Bird Seal, how could she possibly overturn a tradition that had persisted in the Hyuuga clan for generations in time to save him?

Eventually the measurements were complete and Chizuru took Hinata's hand to lead her home again as the seamstress began work; the kimono would be delivered to the Hyuuga manor by the next morning. By that stage, Hinata was a nervous wreck. Try as she might, she couldn't think of anything she could say to her father that would persuade him to spare Neji from the cruelty of the Seal. Back in her past life she'd always dreamed of doing away with the barbaric tradition when she had succeeded her father as head of the clan and Naruto had become Hokage, but that chance had never come before the end. If she hadn't been able to stop it when she'd been a young woman, how could she do so as a helpless child?

By the time she'd finished eating her lunch, the growing feeling of helplessness made Hinata feel like crying in frustration. The hope she'd felt as she grasped her new situation had only made the reality that she had no real chance of saving Neji even worse. If she'd had a bit more time, even as much as a week, she might have been able to think of something, but with so little time available to her she was drawing a total blank.

Left with nothing to do after her midday meal, Hinata retired to her room to rest. At a loose end, she stood at her window and stared out at the grounds of the Hyuuga manor. As short as she was it admittedly wasn't much of a view, the high wall around the compound blocked off most of Konoha and the sakura tree in the garden was not currently in bloom, but at least there was a gentle breeze blowing through to caress her face. There was a sick hollow feeling tugging at the pit of her stomach. Her thoughts were chasing themselves around the inside of her head like a dog chasing its own tail, spinning wildly but going nowhere, until her skull started to ache.

Turning away from the garden, Hinata, slumped down on the tatami, leaning back against the wall below the window. She felt like just giving up. _If I can't even save Neji-niisan, how am I supposed to save Hizashi-ojisan? How am I supposed to save Naruto-kun? It's hopeless..._ Her head dropped until her face was buried in her knees and she felt tears spring to the corner of her eyes.

 _"Naruto-kun, don't you... ever think this war of ours is... impossible?"_

 _"Things are never hopeless, Hinata, no matter how impossible they may seem."_

Hinata's breath caught in her chest as the memory of that distant conversation suddenly came back to her.

 _"You remember when you leaped in between me and Pain, Hinata?"_

 _"Of... of course! How could I ever forget?"_

 _" Yeah, that was the most awesome thing you ever did. And you're a really awesome person, Hinata."_

 _"Naruto-kun..."_

 _"Of course, it was completely impossible for you to defeat him."_

 _"Oh..."_

 _"But that's not important. Because you knew that even before you started to move. You told me that you weren't afraid to die for me. And even though it was impossible, you saved me anyway. Your love was what saved me, what saved us all."_

 _"Oh Naruto-kun, I..."_

 _"So you see, it doesn't matter how impossible things seem, Hinata. As long as we do everything we can, as long as we never give up, things are never hopeless."_

 _"You're right, Naruto-kun."_

 _"Hinata..."_

 _"Naruto-kun... ah..."_

Hinata blushed happily as she remembered what had followed after that -the two of them had shared that conversation while lying together in the same futon one evening- but at the same time she took a deep breath and rose to her feet.

She needed to talk to her father.

oooOOOooo

Hyuuga Hiashi looked up from his work with a frown. The last thing he'd been expecting at this time of the day was his daughter (Hinata of course, Hanabi was still too young to even talk) to be kneeling outside the door of his room, requesting to speak with him. He placed his brush down on his desk next to the letter he was writing (a request to the Hokage suggesting that Hyuuga academy students be allowed to take taijutsu lessons with a specially-assigned Hyuuga instructor instead of the rest of their classmates) and turned his body around on the _zabuton_ to face the door. "Very well, Hinata. Come in and sit down."

Hinata bowed politely, entered the room and slid the _fusama_ shut behind her. Hiashi raised a thin eyebrow curiously. Her absolute formal politeness was admirable -she'd apparently absorbed her lessons on proper formal behavior and etiquette even better than he'd expected- but not entirely necessary for a simple conversation between a father and his five year old daughter. Hinata crossed the room, kneeled politely opposite him and looked into his eyes, waiting for him to speak.

The silence lasted for several seconds before Hiashi broke it. "What is it you need to talk to me about, Hinata?" he asked.

"Father," the girl said, her voice clear, "I wanted to ask you about the Caged Bird Seal."

The head of the Hyuuga clan blinked in surprise; the question was so unexpected that a less-disciplined man's jaw would have dropped. "The... Hinata, why do you know about the Caged Bird Seal?"

His daughter seemed to hesitate before answering. "I... saw a member of the branch family take off his forehead protector after a sparring session the other day and saw the seal on his forehead. I asked Chizuru-san what it was for and she told me what it did."

Hiashi frowned. "So you know what the seal is for. So what is it you want to talk to me about, then?"

Hinata squirmed on the _zabuton._ "Father... I know what the seal _does._ But I don't understand why we _need_ it."

"It's simple enough." The clan leader pursed his lips. "We cannot risk the Byakugan falling into the hands of any enemies, but neither can we shirk our responsibilities to Konoha by refusing to risk ourselves in the line of duty. So the members of the branch family bear the seal to ensure that when they die their eyes are sealed away, and it is their responsibility to protect the members of the main family who do not bear the seal."

"But Father, if it's only about protecting the Byakugan, why don't all member of the clan have the seal? And why can the main family use the seal to hurt the branch family members? That's cruel!"

Hiashi stared at her, utterly astonished. As soon as the outburst had escaped her lips, Hinata's pale eyes flickered away from his face, darting all around the room and a blush spread across her face. For the first time in years, he struggled to find the words he needed. He opened his mouth, but before he could speak his daughter met his eyes again. "Father, I don't understand why the branch family are treated like slaves of the main family. Aren't they members of the Hyuuga clan, just like us? Why does even someone as young as Neji-niisan have to be branded? What makes him less than me, other than who his father is?" The girl visibly squirmed, her face twisting like she was being forced to drink bitter medicine before she finally managed to get the words out. "And Father... please forgive for saying this, but... why is Hizashi-ojisan completely subordinate to you when the two of you are exactly the same, aside from you being born a few minutes before him? I just... don't understand."

As soon as she'd finished her outburst, Hinata dropped her white eyes to the floor in front of her as if she couldn't believe what she'd just said. Hiashi could barely believe it either. Too astonished to even be angry at his daughter for her temerity, the Hyuuga clan head could do nothing except sit and consider her words.

Of course, the question was not new. When the twins had been children, they had both asked the same thing of the former clan head, their own father Hyuuga Hikaru, on the day Hizashi had been taken to be branded with the Seal. Hiashi even remembered demanding he also be branded with the same seal so that he and his twin could remain identical. But his father had refused. What had his explanation been again?

That was it. _"Hiashi, we cannot cast aside the traditions that have defined our family so easily iust because we personally may disagree with them. It is these traditions that have protected our family through the generations and preserved the power of our bloodline."_ Yes, now he remembered. "Hinata, the Caged Bird Seal and the division of the main and branch families has protected our family for generations, ensuring that the Byakugan, the source of our power, has remained our secret alone. You cannot pick and choose which aspects of tradition you will follow and which you will not, for that undermines the entire system. We follow this tradition because it works, because this is what we have always done. I can no more defy it than I could defy an order from the Hokage. You must understand that I do not disagree with you about the cruelty of the Seal- I was similarly bothered when my brother was branded and I was not. But it must be done."

"But Father-" Hinata began.

"Enough!" Hiashi had been astonished, even impressed, by his five-year-old daughter's understanding and reasoning, far beyond what anyone would expect from a child of her age, but this wasn't a debate- Hinata had asked him a question, he had provided her with the answer, and that was the end of it. "Your compassion does you credit, Hinata, but if this is about Neji, then I am sorry but he _will_ receive the Seal. The discussion is over." He frowned suddenly. "I was not aware you and Neji were particularly close already, Hinata."

As Hiashi looked at Hinata more closely, he received another surprise. His daughter's body was trembling, as if she were trying to contain an explosion. It was so subtle that most people wouldn't notice, but even aside from the powers granted to them by the Byakugan the Hyuuga had keener vision than most. "He is my family, Father," she answered, her voice carefully measured. "Of course I care for him."

Now Hiashi began to grow angry. The implied rebuke stung. Did Hinata think he cared nothing for the branch family members under him, including his own brother? But she was still a child, despite this unexpected show of maturity so he reigned in his temper with the self-control that came from years of practice. "That will be all, Hinata," he said curtly. "I have things I must attend to now. You may depart."

For a split-second he almost thought Hinata was going to defy him and continue to argue, but instead she bowed formally, her head reaching down to the _tatami_ matting. "Yes, Father. Thank you for you time." Smoothly rising to her feet, she turned and left the room, closing the _fusama_ behind her.

Hyuuga Hiashi turned back to his letter and picked up his brush, but found himself unable to concentrate on his work.

oooOOOooo

Frustration filled her tiny body and Hinata clenched her fists tightly as she fought down the instinct to cry. She'd given it her best shot, but her father had not listened.

Well that wasn't _entirely_ true; he'd at least listened, but had refused to be swayed. It was what Hinata had expected before she had gone in to see him, but she'd had to make the effort at least. In all honesty, she'd done somewhat better than she'd anticipated- she'd half-expected her father to refuse to even hear her and angrily dismiss her as soon as she'd dared question the Hyuuga family tradition. She'd never had the courage to discuss the seal with her father back in her old life and had been quite surprised to hear his own views on the topic.

Still, it hadn't been enough. Tomorrow, Neji would be branded.

Tomorrow?

'Tomorrow' was not 'now'.

Yes, he would branded- unless she did something about it,

oooOOOooo

Hyuuga Neji was taking a moment to relax by the side of the ornamental koi pond in the garden when he sensed someone approaching from behind him. He'd finished his training session with his father only fifteen minutes ago and was getting his breath back, so he doubted it was his father again. He tossed the last crust from the sandwich that had been his post-workout snack into the pond (where it was immediately snatched up by the largest carp) and pushed himself up to his feet, brushing grass off his pants as he turned to face the visitor.

To his surprise, it was the tiny figure of clan head Hiashi's daughter approaching him- Hinata. His father was the clan head's younger brother, so that made the girl his... cousin? But his father and his uncle were twins, weren't they? So did that make Hinata his half-sister or something? The few times they'd spoken she'd called him "Neji-niisan" so did she think he was her brother, or was it just a formality? His father had told him that Hinata was the heir to the clan, so she was technically more important than him, but...

His rambling contemplations were interrupted when Hinata stopped in front of him, staring nervously at her feet. When she spoke, her voice was quieter and even more uncertain than usual. "Um, Neji-niisan?" There it was again! "I need to talk to you... urgently. If that's OK with you?"

He blinked in surprise. "Uh, sure Hinata...sama." He was always a bit fuzzy on where he stood with honourifics, but it was better to play it safe. "What is it?"

The tiny girl fidgeted awkwardly for a moment before the words all spilled out of her in a rush. "Um... tomorrow on my birthday my father and the clan elders are going to take you and put a seal on your head called the Caged Bird Seal, just like your father and the other branch family members have on their heads, and its going to force you to serve the main family members like me until you die whether you want to or not, and then when you die it's going to seal up your Byakugan and the main family members can use it to hurt you if you don't do what they say, and I don't want them to do that to you because it's not right! And, and, and I went and asked my father not to do it but he said it has to be done even though he doesn't like it either so they're going to put it on you tomorrow unless we do something!" She broke off, breathing heavily.

Neji boggled at her. His father always told him that he was very smart for his age, but he'd only caught about one word in three. He tried to string the words he _had_ caught together into a coherent picture. "So..." he began hesitantly, "the Hyuuga clan elders and your father... are going to do something bad to me tomorrow?"

Hinata swallowed nervously, catching her breath. "Y-yes. All the members of the branch family receive the Caged Bird Seal on their foreheads. It causes their Byakugan to vanish when they die, to keep the enemies of Konoha from stealing it, and it also lets any main family member hurt them any time they like. It's a horrible thing to do, but Father says it's necessary."

That was a lot easier to understand. Neji considered his little cousin's words for a second, trying to get his head around what she'd just told him. He frowned. "I don't like the sound of that. But you said my father has the seal as well?"

Hinata shuddered, as if recalling a horrible memory. "That's right. Have you ever seen him without his forehead protector on? The blue thing on his head is the seal."

Neji couldn't recall if he ever actually _had_ seen his father bare-headed before, but he decided to just take Hinata's word for it. "Oh. OK. Thanks for letting me know, I guess." He couldn't help but wonder why she'd come to tell him this.

The heir to the clan shook her head furiously, causing her neat bob of black hair to float around her head like a dark cloud. "No, you don't understand, Neji-niisan. I don't _want_ you to be branded with the Seal. You need to run away from home until I can convince Father to spare you."

Neji stared at his cousin as if she'd started barking at him like a dog. "Uh... run away? But... I can't run away from home. Where would I go? I... you can't be serious, Hinata-sama!"

Hinata stared at him pleadingly and Neji was shocked to see tears forming in the corners of her white eyes. "No, I mean it, Neji-niisan, you need to get out of here and hide somewhere for at least a few days. Uh, do you have any friends who can hide you? Maybe you can camp out in the woods somewhere, it'll take them at least a while to find you. We... we can take some food from the kitchen to keep you going. And, and-"

Neji cut her off. This conversation was starting to freak him out. "Uh, no Hinata-sama, I think I'd better stay here. No matter what the elders are going to do, I'm sure Father wouldn't let them do anything too bad to me." That's right, his Father would never let anything bad happen to him.

 _"Please,_ Neji-niisan!" To Neji's absolute shock the tears overflowed from Hinata's eyes and streamed down her cute cheeks. His cousin stepped right up close to him and her hands reached out to grab him by his shirt, pulling her tear-wet face right up to his. "Your father doesn't want this to happen to you either, but he can't do anything about it! Please, you _have_ to run!" She looked down and Neji realised she was trembling. "If... if you run away, I... I'll go with you!"

That was too much. Neji pulled out of Hinata's weak grip and stepped back, averting his face from her tear-streaked one. "Um, I'm sorry Hinata-sama, I... just realised I have to go. Father is looking for me." Ignoring her plaintive protests he dodged past her and ran for the house. For a moment was terrified that she was going to chase him, but when he cast a last quick glance behind him just before he turned out of sight past the _shoji_ panel he saw her standing right where he'd left her, facing away from the house and sobbing into her hands.

With an awful twisting feeling in his gut, Neji went looking for his father. He found him easily enough, still in the clan dojo where he'd last seen him after their training session together, meditating silently in the corner. The young boy timidly crept up to his father, hesitant to disrupt the calming silence of the otherwise empty room, but burning with the need for reassurance. "Um... excuse me Father...?"

Hyuuga Hizashi's Byakugan eyes opened at the sound of his son's voice and he smiled as he turned his head to look at Neji. "Hmm? What is it, Neji? Would you like to practice some more before dinner?"

The boy squirmed in front of his parent, unsure of how to begin. "Um... no, Father, I... need to ask you something. You see, H-Hinata-sama just came to talk to me just now and..."

Hizashi didn't interrupt his son as the entire story of Neji's meeting with his little cousin spilled out of him, although his face grew grave. When the boy had finished and was looking at him expectantly he sighed. "Neji, sit down here please." Once the boy had settled himself on the hardwood floor in front of him, he lifted his hands behind his head, undid the ties of his forehead protector and removed it, revealing a blue manji-shaped mark on his brow. Neji's white eyes went wide. "Neji... I'm afraid that what Hinata-sama told you is actually completely correct. We of the branch family have always been marked with the Caged Bird Seal in order to serve our purpose as the guardians of the main family. And yes, it will seal away our Byakugan on our death, and can be used by members of the main family to punish us if we rebel. And although I would wish you to be free of it, it will be laid upon you tomorrow, on the date of Hinata-sama's fifth birthday, to mark you as subordinate to her, the family heir of your generation."

Neji stared at his father in horror as Hizashi continued. "I confess that I should have told you about the seal before now myself, but... I could not bear it. Forgive me my cowardice, Neji, but I didn't want to burden you with the knowledge any earlier than necessary." He frowned. "It astonishes me that Hinata-sama took it upon herself to do so, or even that she is aware of the seal already at her age. You said she wanted you to run away... so she could convince my brother to spare you?"

Neji nodded. "That's right, Father. She was _desperate_ to make me get away. She even said she'd run away with me if she had to."

Hizashi's thin eyebrows shot up in undisguised surprise. "She said _what?!"_ He ruminated on the thought for a moment. "What a... _strange_ thing for the heir of the Hyuuga clan to say. The amount of trouble she would cause if she suddenly went missing would be..." His voice trailed off and Neji stared at his father in fascination as he lost himself in thought.

Shaking his head, Hizashi leaned forward and looked into his son's eyes. "Neji, listen to me. Every person has a destiny assigned to them at birth that they cannot escape from. Your fate and mine, as members of the branch family, is to serve and protect the main family- you are meant to follow Hinata-sama as I followed my brother before you. I have often questioned and cursed this fate, but I cannot fight it. You did the right thing by not attempting to run away as she wanted." Neji smiled weakly at his father's reassurance, but he couldn't keep his face from falling. Hizashi wasn't finished. "But Neji, remember this: I don't know yet whether or not Hinata-sama will prove to be a strong leader for our clan when she eventually succeeds my brother, but I _am_ certain that she will deserve your protection. Her compassion and kindness, how much she cares for you and others below her, shows that she has at least the potential to be a good leader." Father and son locked their white eyes and Neji hung on Hizashi's every word. "If she is strong, then serve her faithfully. If she is weak, then lend her your strength. Because a leader who loves their people as much as that is one you must protect. She will care for you, and you must repay that kindness with your loyalty. Do you understand, Neji?"

Neji's eyes were as wide as saucers as he absorbed his father's words and nodded vigorously. "Yes Father. I understand."

oooOOOooo

Hinata managed to wipe away her tears before anyone else saw them, but the feelings of misery and frustration weren't so easy to erase. She'd done everything she could think of short of outright kidnapping Neji and hiding him and she hadn't managed to change _anything._ Tomorrow, despite her best efforts, Neji would receive the Caged Bird Seal that would set him on the path of bitterness and resentment against the main family that would take him years to escape.

She got through the rest of the afternoon practically on autopilot, dispiritedly avoiding the company of others. At dinner she focused entirely on her meal, not meeting the eyes of any of the other family members, although she could feel Neji looking at her oddly. After bathing and returning to her bedroom, Chizuru tucked her into her futon and she was left alone in the dark with her thoughts.

She lay in the darkness, staring at the ceiling blankly. Her young body was tired after a long and disappointing day, especially with the disrupted sleep she'd had the previous night, and all she wanted to do at the end of it was to lose herself in slumber, but for some reason it refused to take her. She felt oddly uncomfortable lying in her futon and squirmed from side to side, trying to find a better position to lie in, but it felt like something was missing.

No, it wasn't some _thing_ that she was missing. It was some _one_.

From the first time she and Naruto had become lovers when they were eighteen, up until their capture by Akatsuki, she had never slept alone. Even before that first tender night, there had been times where the two of them had chastely shared a bedroll, huddling together for warmth from the cold or comfort from the fear. Her and Naruto had never been apart even once. The night of the blood moon, where she'd lain awake and watched through the bars as the darkness had bled, was the first time in almost two years that she had been without him, and she had been too traumatised by his impending death and her dread over their child's future to even _try_ to sleep. When she had passed out and awoken back in her past, she'd been too distracted by her situation to think about it, only blacking out again when fatigue had been too much to resist.

Now she was lying in the futon she'd slept in for her entire childhood, trying to find some rest, she realised how truly lonely it was sleeping alone.

Pushing back the bedclothes, Hinata pushed herself to her feet and staggered across to the window of her room and pushed the shutters open. With the eclipse behind them, the full moon was starting to wane, but still lit up the clear skies above Konoha. Hinata stared up at the starry sky, her heart aching. Naruto was out there, somewhere, right at this moment. She couldn't recall whether he was still living at the orphanage with the other parentless children, or whether he'd already been relocated to the solitary apartment where he'd lived alone for years with almost no-one to watch over him- when he had told her about his childhood he'd been vague on the details, and she hadn't pressed him to recall such a sad part of his life any more than he wanted to.

For a moment she was seized by a mad compulsion to leap through the window and go to look for him, right now, just to see him. She _missed_ him so much it was like a blade in her heart. She actually had her hand on the window sill, about to vault over it out into the night garden when she caught herself. Even if the idea hadn't been completely insane, Naruto didn't even _know_ her at this stage of their lives. They weren't even due to meet for another year, just after they'd both started at the academy, when he'd saved her from being harassed by a gang of bullies.

The Naruto she'd known and loved was dead. To the Naruto of this time, she was just a stranger.

As her eyes filled with tears, her hand unthinkingly brushed against her belly, a habit that had become second nature to her during the later months of her pregnancy every time anxiety had come upon her, only to grope at the empty space left by her child's absence. That was another thing she'd lost, this time undoubtedly forever. Even if she and Naruto grew as close again as they had during her first life, there was no way the same child would be conceived a second time, unless she replayed their lives perfectly all the way to their tragic conclusion. Their child had never been born, and never would be.

Hinata crawled back into her futon, curled up into a ball and cried herself to sleep.

TO BE CONTINUED...

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AFTERWORD:

As with my first fic, The Secret Songs of the Ninja, I've been writing several chapters of For Love in advance before publishing my first. It really is remarkable how much easier I find it to write on my tablet when out of the home instead of sitting in front of my desktop, getting constantly distracted by online nonsense and games (I had wireless on my tablet, but discontinued it because the costs were ridiculous, and I don't have any games I can play offline installed on it either), despite the incredible awkwardness of the Polaris Office interface (although getting a bluetooth keyboard helped). Maybe I should transfer _all_ my writing to my tablet and just start going on long pointless day trips around the city rail line?

I hope you're enjoying the story. Although it's a NaruHina fic to the core, there's a lot more to it than just the two of them, so it'll be a while before we get to any of what you might traditionally consider 'NaruHina content' between them. As you've probably noticed, these opening chapters have more to do with Hinata's childhood and family- as a child, that's the extent of what she can influence. Fortunately, those are some of the most important aspects of Hinata's character, so it promises to be interesting. At least in my opinion anyway.

If you recall, I mentioned in the chapter 1 afterword that I was _mostly_ following canon as closely as I can. A few minor differences show up here. Foremost among these is moving Hinata's age forward a bit; in the manga, these events took place around Hinata's _third_ birthday, which I just found plain ridiculous. Also the flashback to when Neji was taken to be branded also seemed to imply that this was the first time Neji had even _seen_ Hinata before, which considering they're cousins who both live in the same household is even _more_ ridiculous, so obviously I scrapped that and gave them an established relationship. Other details about life among the Hyuuga family aren't exactly _non-canon_ as such, but obviously I had to make up a whole bunch of stuff to fill in the gaps (for example, we know almost nothing about Hinata's mother and _absolutely_ nothing about Neji's).

NEXT TIME.

Although Hinata has failed to save Neji from the seal, she has already begun to change things. But can she change enough to make a real difference and spare her family from the tragedies that lie ahead? And can she draw on the power of her future to change her past? The real battle is only just beginning in chapter 3 of For Love, **'Struggle for Acceptance'.**

Arcane Azmadi, 2017.


	3. Chapter 3 - Struggle for Acceptance

FOR LOVE.

 **Disclaimer:** Not guilty, your Honour.

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Chapter 3: Struggle for Acceptance.

Hinata faced the new dawn with absolute dread. Sleep had not come easily and for the second day in a row she woke groggy with fatigue. Chizuru helped her get up and dressed, but even the dawn delivery of her newly-completed birthday kimono couldn't lift her spirirts, much to the old woman's consternation. The garment was apricot-coloured and beautifully embroidered with scarlet flames, enough to delight any young girl, but when Chizuru told her how pretty she looked, she couldn't muster anything more than a half-hearted smile.

At breakfast, Hinata had to keep herself from breaking down in tears again when she saw Neji. His forehead was still smooth and unmarred, but Hinata knew this was the last time she would ever see him like this, and after breakfast he would be taken by the clan elders. When her eyes met her cousin's, he looked away from her awkwardly, and her heart burned like it was pumping acid through her veins.

When her father put an hand on Neji's shoulder and led him away from her sad-looking uncle's side, it was all Hinata could do to keep herself from throwing up. Neji looked uncomfortable and nervous, but he didn't look bewildered or afraid. If nothing else, then for better or worse she'd at least ensured he'd been forewarned of what was going to happen this time. As she stared at the ground, tears beading in the corners of her eyes, she could feel the eyes of both her father and uncle piercing through her and squirmed under their scrutiny.

Lunch proved to be an even more painful, drawn-out experience than breakfast had been. She was forced to weather more than one sharp rebuke from her father for her palpably miserable mood and listless manner of addressing her meal, and every time her eyes flickered across Neji's bandaged forehead and downcast expression it was like a kunai stabbing into her flesh.

The worst was still to come, though. After lunch, her father had her change from her new kimono into a training gi and come to the clan dojo.

Despite her best efforts, Hinata had never been able to face her father properly. Even after their relationship had improved, she had never been able to spar properly with him. It wasn't even that she couldn't bring herself to try and hurt him- she simply didn't believe she would ever be able to lay so much as a hand on him no matter how hard she tried. Even training in the same dojo as him felt futile.

Facing him across the dojo floor, with Neji and Hizashi sitting off to the side watching, for the first time since she'd been sent back to her past she really felt like the child she seemed again.

Taking her Jyuuken stance, Hinata stared up at her father with dread in her eyes. She knew what would happen here. She could never forget her father sensing the resentment in his brother's eyes, feeling his killing intent and making an example of him for Neji's benefit, Hizashi rolling on the floor like an animal, screaming at the top of his lungs, clutching his head and writhing in agony before his son's horrified eyes.

The memory made the nausea well up inside her again. As her father instructed her to begin practicing her jyuuken strikes against him, it was all she could do to keep the bile down. She tried her best to focus, but the looming dread overwhelmed her.

"Hinata!" her father barked. "Your strikes are sloppy, weak. You have to focus!"

 _I'm_ trying _, Father!_ she silently cried. She could feel Hizashi's white eyes on her as she delivered another weak blow that her father effortlessly knocked aside, and her chest tightened in horrid anticipation.

All of a sudden, though, Hinata felt a surge of a new emotion, one rare to her. Anger. Anger at the cruel traditions of the Hyuuga clan. Anger at her father who, regardless of the love and respect she held for him, refused to try and fight those same traditions. And anger at herself, who despite fifteen years of training, growth, and even experience tempered by four years of guerilla warfare against Akatsuki, was still the same helpless child she had been back then.

Fate seemed determined to frustrate her attempts to change the future she had seen and suffered through. Well in that case, as she had once sworn to Neji, she would fight fate to her last breath.

Her father threw a strike at her- slow, telegraphed, intended only to allow her to practice her parries. Still, the weak, distracted child that Hinata had been up to then would be staggered by it, leaving herself open, defenceless, helpless.

The heir of the Hyuuga clan brushed the blow aside with a casual turn of the wrist, stepped inside her father's guard and aimed a ferocious strike directly at his chest.

oooOOOooo

Hyuuga Hiashi's vein-lined white eyes widened in shock. The blow was so unexpected and came so quickly that he almost failed to deflect it. Hinata followed up the strike with another, then took a short turning step to the side to aim a shot at his flank. He mirrored the movement, deflecting the attack and reflexively countering with a strike aimed down at her face. He regretted the instinctive action as soon as he had begun it- the blow was much harder and faster than what he normally restricted himself to when sparring with his five-year-old daughter and would undoubtedly hurt her when it landed, even without the chakra projection that jyuuken normally used to cause internal damage.

If he'd been shocked before, what happened next nearly floored him. Barely ducking her head under his blow, Hinata's hand shot up, moving so fast it was a blur, fingers extended straight like the blade of a kunai. The point struck on the underside of the wrist and Hiashi felt a stinging burst of pins and needles shoot through his hand, a sensation he hadn't felt since he was a child learning the family style by sparring with his own brother. Hinata had precisely struck the tenketsu right under his wrist, her jyuuken strike sealing off the flow of chakra to his hand.

Stunned, the Hyuuga clan head stepped back out of his daughter's reach, rubbing his wrist where she'd closed the tenketsu. Hinata returned to her guard stance, hands held in an unwavering defensive posture, Byakugan eyes locked fiercely on his body, waiting for him to make the slightest offensive motion. Suddenly she blinked and lowered her hands, as if only just becoming aware of what she was doing. "Oh... Father, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

Hiashi raised hand to cut her off. "No, no, you did nothing you should apologise for. That was... the result of my carelessness. He stopped futilely rubbing his wrist and took a long, careful look at his daughter. Hinata had stepped out of her stance and almost seemed to have shrunk in on herself. Strangely, the impression he got was less that she were upset about having struck him and more like she'd been caught out doing something she shouldn't have. An odd reaction, considering what a remarkable display of jyuuken she'd just put on. Under such circumstances, Hiashi would have expected pride, not shame.

Something prickled on the side of his head and he looked around for its source. On the other side of the room, Hizashi and Neji were both watching them. His nephew's eyes were wide open with astonshed admiration for what he'd just seen, but Hizashi's were locked onto Hinata like a hawk. Hiashi felt a surge of protective instinct at the intensity of his brother's gaze, but restrained himself. He didn't feel any killing intent coming from his brother. Instead, Hizashi flicked his eyes across to meet Hiashi's, raised an eyebrow and nodded once.

Hiashi knew his twin better than anyone alive; there were subtle elements to their relationship that they hadn't even been able to share with their wives. Hizashi was _impressed_. And his brother was not easily impressed. Not being diverted from his training by issues of clan maintenance as Hiashi was, and all too aware of his duty to die in defence of the main family, Hizashi had trained his already-prodigious skill harder than anyone until he was the strongest shinobi of the Hyuuga clan, more powerful than even his brother. Neji had already shown signs of becoming a prodigy to equal or even exceed his father, something that Hiashi had to confess had rankled even with him at times. But the sudden burst of skill Hinata had displayed had won her a rare acknowledgement from her uncle.

Turning back to his daughter, Hiashi shook off his thoughts and resumed his stance, flexing the lingering numbness out of his fingers as he did. "That was well done, Hinata. Can you repeat it?" With visible nervousness, but also visible resolve, the girl raised her hands again and Hiashi attacked. His blows this time had more speed and force than the simplistic forms he'd been testing her with earlier, but were carefully measured; Hiashi was paying extra attention to the exact limits of his daughter's abilities this time, slowly increasing the intensity of his strikes as she proved herself capable of withstanding them. Hinata warded him off with precision and struck back when he left her an opening to counter, but while her blows were clean and focused, they lacked the unexpected ferocity of her previous outburst and now that Hiashi was paying due attention she didn't even come close to striking him again. Whatever had possessed his five-year-old daughter to briefly overwhelm him like that had gone.

Yet Hiashi was satisfied. To say Hinata had surpassed his expectations would be an understatement of the highest order. Following her weak start, she had displayed a burst of potential on par with a trained master of jyuuken, and even after that had passed, had performed to a level far beyond adequate for her age. After several minutes of pushing the girl harder than he ever had before and watching as she somehow managed to keep up, he stepped back and lowered his hands, nodding in satisfaction. "Enough, Hinata. We are finished for today. You may sit down now." He showed his daughter a rare smile. "Well done."

Hinata blushed, dropped her hands to her sides and bowed formally to close the sparring session. Father and daughter moved off the side of the dojo as Hizashi and Neji rose to take their turn. Hinata sat beside Hiashi on the hardwod floor in perfect _seiza_ style, her hands folded demurely on her lap, watching her cousin and uncle adopt the same stances that she and her father had just been in. Hiashi watched the two of them as they went through the same forms, Neji moving from the outset with confidence and poise that easily outstripped at least Hinata's initial efforts, if not the level she'd reached after her sudden and drastic improvement, but the Hyuuga clan head couldn't keep his eyes from wandering down to his daughter's face. Hinata was unsurprisingly pink-faced and sweating from her exertions, but there was a small smile on her lips as her eyes followed Neji's movements. That might have been a not-unexpected reaction after her impressive showing and the rare praise he had awarded her, but her smile conveyed less self-satisfaction than sheer relief. Together with the expression of concern he'd seen her wearing after she'd struck his tenketsu, Hyuuga Hiashi couldn't help the feeling that there was more going on in his daughter's head than he'd thought.

"Hinata." The girl jumped at his unexpected address and looked up at him, that strangely guilty look back in her eyes again. "You began that training session in poor form, but showed a sudden improvement part way through. How did that happen?"

Hinata hesitated, visibly searching for an answer. "Um... I just didn't want to, um, to disappoint... you, Father. I... just got angry at... myself for not being strong enough to do what I should."

Hiashi nodded. His instincts told him his daughter wasn't telling him the _entire_ truth, but her explanation made sense. Anger and shame could often be major distractions, but there were few incentives to improve stronger than disappointment in oneself. He'd always elected to be extremely sparing in his praise of Hinata in the hope that this would drive her to work harder, and today his strategy seemed to have borne fruit- the positive words he'd awarded her had been hard-won but well-deserved. "You should maintain that level of skill from now on, Hinata. If you do, you will disappoint no-one." He nodded in the direction of his brother and nephew. "Perhaps we should have you spar with Neji now?"

The instant the words were out of his mouth she visibly shrank back, looking hunted. Her reaction again surprised Hiashi, but after a moment's contemplation it made sense: it was obvious that, regardless of her skill, Hinata would never be naturally competitive. Additionally she had been obviously upset about Neji's branding earlier that morning, which made it even more understandable that she would be reluctant to raise a hand against him. "On the other hand," he amended "perhaps that can wait until next time." A look of relief flashed across Hinata's face.

Neji's training session with his father was winding down. The boy was visibly struggling to withstand Hizashi's attacks, but Hizashi seemed to be pushing him even harder than Hiashi had been testing Hinata, and despite his prodigious talent Neji wasn't able to keep up. Hizashi gave the boy no opportunities to strike back, subjecting to a furious barrage of blows that would have broken any normal Hyuuga child, but Neji was just barely able to defend himself. Although it wasn't his place to tell his brother how he should be training his son, Hiashi was on the verge of advising him to ease up when Hizashi did exactly that, stepping back from Neji and letting his hands fall to his sides. Neji slumped to his knees in relief, wheezing for breath, and his father helped him stand upright again, patting him on the back encouragingly.

Even if Hinata hadn't been opposed to it, it looked like Neji was in no shape to spar with her anyway. Hiashi rose smoothly to his feet and looked down at his daughter. "I think we are done for today, Hinata. You may go and spend your time freely until dinner is ready."

She smiled up at him, this time with simple, genuine happiness. Hiashi felt a small stab in his heart; he loved his daughter's smile, but whenever he saw it, it made him think of his dear, departed Hotaru. "Thank you, Father." She hesitated a moment. "Um... may Neji-niisan come and play with me?" She turned to her uncle, who had handed his son a bottle of water and a cloth to wipe the sweat from his face. "May he, Uncle Hizashi? Um, if he wants to, of course..."

Hiashi's twin met his eyes and they came to a brief, unspoken agreement. "Certainly, Hinata-sama," Hizashi answered. "Neji, go with Hinata-sama. I need to speak to Hiashi-sama." Neji nodded, smiled and walked over to join Hinata as she bowed to her father and uncle and headed for the entrance to the dojo.

Hiashi turned to his brother. The two of them had quite a bit to discuss indeed.

oooOOOooo

The two young cousins didn't go far after leaving the dojo, stopping by the side of the same koi pond where they'd met the day before. Neji often came here to unwind after training with his father and if you asked him he'd say it was probably the nicest point in the mansion. The cold, clear water of the pond made the air around it cooler than anywhere else on the grounds and combined with the shade of the sakura tree growing over the pool there was nowhere better to relax after a strenuous session of exercise. Even though the tree wasn't currently in bloom, it still cast dappled shadows on the faces of the two children as they sat on the grass beneath its boughs.

Hinata was silent as Neji flopped down on his back and stretched out his arms and legs as far as he could. It was hardly the most dignified behavior, but at the moment he was too worn out to care. "Ahhhh... I'm so tired," he moaned. "Father was working me like he had something to prove in there." It was a _good_ fatigue, though. He'd been worried that his father had been disappointed that he hadn't been able to land a blow on him, like Hinata-sama had with her own father, but when he'd been helping Neji up at the end his father had smiled and told him he'd done well.

His cousin smiled, but her expression appeared somehow strained. "Yes... I'm sorry, Neji-niisan."

He kicked his legs into the air and swung himself up into a sitting position, staring at her in surprise. "Huh? What do you have to be sorry about, Hinata-sama?"

She squirmed under his gaze, averting her eyes from him. "Well... I think Uncle Hizashi... um, I think he wanted to... make you prove that you're stronger than me. Just because I got lucky against Father."

This was strange. "'Lucky'?" Neji asked dubiously. "I don't think it was luck, Hinata-sama. I was watching and what you did was amazing." He smiled awkwardly. "I can see I'm going to have to keep pushing myself as hard as I can if I want to beat you."

The attempt to reassure her fell flat and, if anything, she started looking miserable again. "No... I'm certain that you'll always be stronger than me, Neji-niisan. But..." She stared at his face for moment, tight-lipped. Neji realised that she wasn't meeting his eyes but was staring at his bandage-covered forehead. "...I'm still sorry for what happened to you."

Suddenly self-conscious, he put a hand to his forehead and, as if only just realising she'd been staring, she averted her eyes, blushing. Neji felt a sudden pulse of sympathy stab at his heart. While he'd been upset when his the clan's seal master had branded the blue manji onto his forehead, despite the lack of pain, he'd mentally prepared himself already thanks to his cousin's warning and his father's explanation. Hinata was actually taking it far harder than he was himself. What was it his father had said again? _"A leader who loves their people as much as that is one you must protect."_ He took a deep, nervous breath. "Hinata-sama." She looked back at him with an expression like a cornered deer. "Father told me yesterday all about the seal they put on me this morning. It's..." He fumbled for the words. "It's OK, Hinata-sama. I don't... hold it against you. Thank you for trying to help me, but it's alright. I understand my duty to the clan- and to you."

She stared at him, eyes widening as if she couldn't believe what she was hearing. Then a small but warm smile spread shyly across her face. Neji wasn't much of a natural smiler himself, but the expression of delighted relief on his cousin's face was infectious and he couldn't help but return it. "I will never allow the seal to be used on you, Neji-niisan," she promised him. Despite the year age gap between them, Neji suddenly felt very young in his cousin's eyes. "And I promise that one day I'll put an end to its use forever."

Now that _was_ a thought worth smiling about. Grinning, Neji jumped to his feet and extended his hand down to Hinata. "Come on, Hinata-sama, we've still got some free time before dinner. Shall we go look for Hanabi-chan and see if she wants to play with us?"

His cousin -and future leader- took his hand and slid smoothly to her feet. "I'm sure she'd love to, Neji-niisan. Let's go find her, shall we?"

Hand in hand, the two cousins ran off to look for Hinata's little sister.

oooOOOooo

Hinata couldn't stop smiling as she slid the screen door of her bedroom closed behind her. It wasn't just the joy from an hour of playing hide-and-seek with her cousin and her dear little sister. Despite everything, despite being unable to keep Neji from being branded with the Caged Bird Seal, she'd somehow managed to succeed in the first stage of her plan. Rather than a seed of resentment being planted within Neji at being shackled by the harsh traditions of the Hyuuga clan, her cousin seemed to be more at peace with his circumstances, and she'd also managed to somehow prevent the cruel confrontation between their fathers.

This was only the beginning- but it _was_ a beginning. When she'd gone to sleep the previous night, she'd been starting to doubt that her actions could make any difference whatsoever. She'd woken up in the morning _dreading_ the events of the day. But instead, their resolution gave her hope that things _could_ change and the nightmarish future she'd returned from _could_ still be prevented.

If she could save Neji from the darkness that had engulfed his childhood, surely she could find a way to save Konoha from destruction?

Surely she could find a way to save the world from Madara's madness?

To save Naruto?

Hinata clenched her tiny fist. _I will never give up. That is my ninja way._

In any event, though, she still wasn't finished with her first objective. True, she'd prevented some of the resentment that had damaged her family for years back in her own timeline, but she wasn't home and dry yet.

There was still the big one to come.

oooOOOooo

Her heart was racing already as she kneeled outside the door of her father's room for the second time in two days. If she'd been worried the first time, when she'd struggled to turn her father against the tradition of the Caged Bird Seal, this time she was a nervous wreck. After all, arguing against the seal only required her to be persuasive. What she was about to try required no small amount of deception and cunning.

"Excuse me, Father," she called out timidly.

"Hinata?" There was audible surprise in Hyuuga Hiashi's voice. "What is it?"

"May I please speak with you briefly?"

There was a moment of silence from the other side of the paper screen door before her father answered. "Come in."

Her heart racing, Hinata slid the _shoji_ open, shuffled through without rising from her kneeling position, shut the door behind her and bowed before the head of her clan. When she looked up, her father was watching her with a trace of approval on his face. One thing Hinata _had_ always excelled at was decorum and tradition, which Hyuuga Hiashi held in high esteem.

"Approach, Hinata," he commanded, and she hastily crossed the room to sit before him. "What is it you wish to speak to me about?"

The girl took a deep breath and steadied herself. She'd prepared herself for this conversation, but this would still be a very difficult task. "Father," she began carefully. "I was troubled last night by a terrible nightmare."

Hiashi's broad forehead furrowed in a questioning frown. "A nightmare?"

Hinata nodded, her heart racing. What she was about to say would undoubtedly sound childish, even silly, but the most important thing was that it didn't sound absurd, or worse, suspicious. "I dreamed... that I was kidnapped by an evil ninja. He was about to get away with me when you caught him and and killed him." Hiashi's vaguely perplexed expression grew even more confused, but Hinata plunged recklessly on before he could interrupt to ask what exactly was so scary about being rescued by him. "But then it turned out that the evil ninja was a really important man from another village and there was really big trouble. And then that village said there'd be war unless you died as well, so you were killed and everyone said it was all my fault!" She started to tear up here. It was undignified and her father would normally disapprove of such an emotional display, but in this context it was the appropriate action. The best way to ensure her father would pay heed to and think about her story rather than merely dismissing it as 'just a dream' was to play up how nightmarish and traumatising the nightmare had been for her. It wasn't entirely an act either. Her memories of the anguish she'd felt when she'd heard of the destruction of the Hyuuga clan and her father's death at the hands of Uchiha Madara made recalling those tears again a simple matter.

Hyuuga Hiashi digested his daughter's story for a few seconds before smiling reassuringly at her. "You shouldn't worry, Hinata. There is no father within the Hyuuga clan who would not willingly lay down his life for his child. No-one would blame you if such a thing happened, and I would not be afraid to die for you, or for Hanabi if it came to that."

Hinata's shook her head furiously. That wasn't the kind of reassurance she'd been hoping for. "No, _no_ Father, I don't _want_ you to die! I... I wouldn't want you to kill for me, not if it would cause such trouble."

Her father's expression grew chilly. "Any man who attempted to take my children would die when I caught him. Do not imply to me that you are not worth it, Hinata. You are still a child, I do not expect you to understand what it is to be a parent."

 _No, Father, I understand perfectly well what we have to sacrifice for our children. I was almost a mother. Naruto-kun died for our child. And then I lost both of them without even knowing how or why._ That stray thought was too much. Hinata felt the tears spilling over, trickling down her cheeks to drip onto her lap, and her desperation began to overwhelm her, eroding her self-control. "No, Father, I wouldn't... I, I didn't say...! Just..." She threw caution to the wind. "If anyone tries to kidnap me, promise me you won't kill them if there's _any_ other way! _Please_ , Father! Promise me!"

Hiashi's eyes widened with astonishment, then his face furrowed into a frown. "Hinata, what _are_ you talking about? This is going too far. I find it hard to believe this is all just because of some dream you had. What is going on? Has something happened? Have you been approached by someone?"

 _Oh no._ This had all gone wrong. Hinata bit her lip as she desperately sought a way to salvage the situation. Should she just come clean with her father, tell him everything? Might she be able to somehow persuade him that she was not five-year-old daughter, at least not the one he knew, but a twenty-year-old kuniochi veteran of years of guerilla warfare against some of the strongest shinobi in the world? Could she warn him about the upcoming kidnapping attempt so he might be able to make preparations to resolve it without bloodshed?

For a moment, in her panic, she wavered and nearly gave in, the temptation to relieve herself of this burden almost inescapable. At the last moment she caught herself before she made an irreversible mistake. She'd already decided the day before against admitting the truth to her father, who always had been inflexible, closed-minded and not prone to flights of fancy, and nothing had changed since then. His refusal to bend on the issue on Neji's branding was proof enough of that.

All she could do now was withdraw, think of another plan, and hope her words had made at least some impression on her father. "No... I'm sorry, Father," she said, wiping her eyes and collecting herself as best she could. "I was just being silly. It was just... the dream was so real. It scared me. I don't want to lose you."

The frown on her father's face softened slightly, but didn't disappear entirely. "Is that really all it is, Hinata? Is there something you're not telling me? No-one has been telling you strange stories, have they?"

She shook her head. "No, Father. It was just a bad dream. I'm sorry for wasting your time. May I be excused?" Hiashi stared at her hard for a few uncomfortable seconds, but eventually relented and nodded. Her heart racing, Hinata rose to her feet to leave.

As she reached the door, her father's voice stopped her. "Hinata." She turned back to look at him questioningly. His face wore its usual stern expression, but there was a sympathetic glint in his white eyes. "Don't worry. Nothing is going to happen to me."

She smiled weakly at him, bowed, and hurried from the room. _Forgive me, Father, but in truth it's not_ your _life that I fear for._

oooOOOooo

Another stumbling block in her path. As she returned to her room again, Hinata tried to take stock of the results of her last effort, and they weren't very impressive. On reflection, she had to admit that "I had a scary dream" hadn't exactly been the best plan she'd ever come up with. Over the years spent on the run with Naruto and their dwindling group of friends she'd actually been responsible for her fair share of the plans, some better than others, with her favourite probably being the one where she and Naruto had completely ducked Akatsuki's pursuit for half a year by using a large group of Naruto's shadow clones (half of them transformed into her) as decoys to fake their pursuers out. Rather than trying to blend into the horde, the two of them had instead concealed themselves deep beneath the ground for three days with the aid of some earth jutsu and a meditation technique. That one had worked beautifully. She was going to consistantly need that level of sharpness to avoid messing things up horribly here.

It _was_ possible that, with even the single reminder she'd given him of the potential consequences of killing the wrong man, no matter the reason, her father would hesitate before slaying the ambassador from Kumo long enough to identify him. Hyuuga Hiashi was a man who thought before he acted, after all. However, he was also a man who acted swiftly and decisively, and from his words to her earlier he would not hesitate to deal conclusively with any man who laid hands on his children. The possibility was there, but it was not one she could rely on.

No, she would have to take action herself.

There were a variety of options open to her. She could attempt to warn someone else of the ambassador's treachery in advance, perhaps by sending an anonymous tip-off to the Hokage. Ninja diplomacy was a dicey game and it was not uncommon for one player to dissuade their adversary from taking a mutually disadvantageous action simply by politely insinuating that they were fully aware of it, without disrupting the dance of platitudes and lies that kept the top of diplomacy spinning without tipping over. The problem was that getting an "anonymous tip" to Sarutobi Hiruzen, especially about such a grave matter, would be almost impossible- or at least _keeping_ it anonymous would be. The Professor would undoubtedly give the matter the utmost scrutiny and any method she used to try and get the warning to him would end up being traced back to her eventually.

Of course, she could just try coming clean to the Hokage instead of her father. He was the leader of her village, after all, and the greatest ninja of his time. He might well be open-minded enough to hear her out and believe her story, and if he did then he was even better-positioned to help her with her goal of changing the future. She might be able to prevent the massacre of the Uchiha by Uchiha Itachi, avert the attack by Suna and Oto, stop his assassination at the hands of Orochimaru. He might be able to do more to thwart Akatsuki than any other man.

But when it actually came to the thought of meeting with possibly the greatest shinobi in the world and confessing her honestly ridiculous-sounding story to him, Hinata's heart faltered. Who was she to go to Sarutobi Hiruzen and expect him to hear out a child's nonsense? The eldest daughter and heir of the Hyuuga clan, certainly, but for all that she was still nothing more than a child, not yet even enrolled in the academy. He _might_ listen to her, indeed... or he might ignore her, write off her nonsense as a child's wild imaginings. She might blow her credibility completely, writing off any chance she had of changing things for the better in the future. Even if she demonstrated the abilities she'd learned in her old life that made her far more than any child her age should be, that might only make people suspicious that something was wrong with her. Shinobi were a cautious, cagey lot by nature and she simply didn't know the Third Hokage well enough to be able to predict how he would respond to such a confession.

There were really only a handful of people she knew well enough to be able to accurately predict how they would react if she told them the truth, and in the case of several of them (such as her father) their reaction would be negative. No, the _only_ people she was certain would ever believe her -at least assuming her relationships with them, which had not even _begun_ yet at this time, developed along the same lines as they had before- were Kurenai-sensei, her teammate Inuzuka Kiba, and Uzumaki Naruto.

Hinata sighed and sat down on the tatami matting in the middle of the floor. Not even Aburame Shino, good friend that he had been, would have believed a story like hers. He was too coldly logical, unswervingly practical. He'd listen to her attentively and would never accuse her of making up tall tales, but he would find and latch on to any explanation more plausible than "my mind was sent back in time from the future" to explain her story, whether it was her being subjected to mind-altering genjutsu, or a severe case of lucid dreams. Even Hinata had to admit that those sounded more plausible than the bizarre reality of her situation.

So no, for the time being at least she would have to forge on alone. Maybe a few years on down the line she'd be in a better position to be able to persuade others to accept her story- it would certainly be much less easy for others to dismiss it as just a childish dream if she claimed to have been living according to the dictates of her lost life for several years instead of only a few days. But until then, she was on her own.

So for starters, that meant having to prevent her kidnapping with her own power. Surely with her foreknowledge of what was coming she'd be ready when her would-be kidnapper made his move? Granted, her child's body was much weaker than the mature one she'd lost, but she still had all of her knowledge, experience, and her repertoire of jutsu. Maybe she could take the Cloud ambassador off-guard and disable him with jyuuken? There was no way he would be expecting a mere five-year old girl, not even an academy student, to fight back against an adult man, and a fully-trained shinobi to boot, _certainly_ not when he snuck in to kidnap her from her bed in the dead of night. As long as she knew when he was coming-

Hinata frowned, then her eyes went wide with horror. She'd been so intent on the bigger picture, the possible fallout of the kidnap attempt and how to save her uncle's life, that she hadn't stopped to consider the finer details. Now that she'd resolved herself to taking matters into her own hands, she found herself facing a terrible realisation.

She'd only been a child when the ambassador from Hidden Cloud had attempted to steal her away from Konoha, and had been unconscious for the entire time thanks to the sedative he'd drugged her with. Her memories of what had taken place were jumbled and confused. While the horrible events of her fifth birthday had remained as clear as crystal in her mind ever since, the most she could recall about the kidnapping attempt was that it had taken time some time after that.

She couldn't remember _when_ exactly the events leading to Hyuuga Hizashi's death had taken place...

TO BE CONTINUED...

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AFTERWORD:

3 chapters in and things are still admittedly moving pretty slowly, but in my defence these chapters are much shorter than those of Secret Songs of the Ninja. This is the first time I've written a Peggy Sue story (obviously, since it's only my second multi-chapter fic) and it's an absolute _minefield_ of writing challenges with problems around every corner. I have to make sure Hinata is both convincingly characterised as a young woman of her actual age who'd gone through the kinds of experiences she had, while also being able to pass plausibly for the child she appears as, except when I deliberately intend for her to slip up for story purposes (I'm somewhat aided by the idea that she was mature for her age already thanks to her upbringing at least). I also have to carefully consider every last detail of how everything Hinata does affects events, not just in the ways she intends, or even that she is aware of. Like a 'For Want of a Nail' like Secret Songs, small changes can lead to _massive_ differences, but with the added caveat that it's much harder for me to just say "oh but that's different in this story" the way I do in Secret Songs (which doesn't even follow series canon at all post-timeskip) because I have to acknowledge everything that had already happened in canon up to the point of deviation (in this case, the end of the battle with Pain when Naruto chose to kill him for what he did to Hinata), otherwise that deviation carries no actual _weight_.

My writing has slowed down a lot recently due to the fact that I still exclusively write on my tablet when I'm out of the house, and I haven't been out as often lately (of course terms like "lately" are relative when I'm writing these chapters several in advance before I even released chapter 1; this entire afterword is a snapshot from my past). I anticipate having a good chance to get a lot done in the next week or so, although I will also have to try and get some work done on the novel I'm also writing on my tablet. Hopefully I can get at least a good chunk of chapter 4 done, which might be good enough for me to release chapter 1 at long last.

NEXT TIME...

The tension rises for Hinata as her greatest test to date draws near... or does it? With her memories uncertain, she must prepare for every eventuality, but when her greatest weakness -and also her greatest strength- appears, will she be able to retain her focus? Hinata's resolve is put to the test in chapter 4 of For Love, **'Stand for the Heart'.**

\- Arcane Azmadi, 2017.


	4. Chapter 4 - Stand for the Heart

FOR LOVE.

 **Disclaimer:** No, I _don't_ want to take part in a short survey, and I'd _really_ appreciate it if you could stop calling me, OK?

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Chapter 4: Stand for the Heart.

 _When would it happen?_

Yet again, Hinata started the day as a bundle of nerves. It was one thing to think someone was out to get you, but it was much worse when you actually _knew_ they were and were forced to wait for them to make their move.

Of course, that wasn't to say that Hinata was planning to just sit idly and wait for the treacherous Cloud ambassador to strike. On the contrary, she'd already resolved herself to prepare herself for the confrontation as thoroughly as she possibly could in the time she had. If her memory couldn't tell her when the kidnapping attempt was going to take place then she would just have to conduct her own reconnaissance and deduce when the attack would come on her own.

It wasn't like she was reduced to jumping at shadows either. The one thing she did clearly remember about her kidnapping was that it had happened at night, so she at least knew she was safe while the sun shone. Of course, she still couldn't be complacent- like any ninja, her attacker had undoubtedly had her and the Hyuuga compound well scouted out before enacting his plan so it was still possible she was being watched. But during the day at least she would be able to relax her guard enough to concentrate on her own preparations and training.

The day after her birthday, Hinata decided she would dedicate the day to bringing herself up to speed with current events in Konoha. So once breakfast was over she asked her father for permission to go out into the village. Hyuuga Hiashi raised an eyebrow at her request, but saw no reason to deny her as long as she was accompanied by someone and returned in time for lunch and afternoon training.

Hinata felt a warmth spreading inside her when her father brought her escort to meet her in the entrance hall of the manor. Hyuuga Ko had been her escort and guard throughout her first childhood as well. Although her position within the family had never allowed him to be too familiar with her, she still considered him a dear friend and someone she could trust with her life, if not with her secrets. He was obviously much younger now than he had been the last time she'd seen him, still just a genin in his mid teens (albeit an experienced and skilled one) but Hiashi already trusted him to look after his firstborn daughter.

The two of them headed out of the gates of the Hyuuga estate, Ko following respectfully a few steps behind his young mistress. As on her previous excursion with Chizuru, Hinata found herself marveling at the liveliness and bustle on the streets of Konoha. Children ran around energetically, wearing out their long-suffering parents; old men played shogi outside street cafes; young couples walked slowly together, hand in hand; the occasional shinobi crossed overhead on some errand or another. Hinata struggled not to gape at the amazing spectacle of Konoha's normal daily life.

She'd spent some time the previous evening considering how best to gather information relevant to her situation, although frankly her options were limited, especially with Ko keeping tabs on her. There honestly wasn't all that much she could find out from street level on her own, but she should at least be able to discover if the Cloud delegation containing her would-be kidnapper had arrived in Konoha yet. So as she walked down the streets of the village, drifting from shop to shop and heading for the main street of Konoha with Ko shadowing her at a polite distance, Hinata did her best to read the mood of the people around her, keeping her ears open for anything useful she could hear.

"...going out with the son of that shinobi family from down the road, so I'm worried about their long-term prospects- what if that boyfriend of hers gets sent out..."

"...won't see quality like this every day, this is finest silk from the northern end of the Land of Earth, this is, very rare and hard to..."

"...planning to enter them in the chuunin exam being held later this year if things continue to go this well, although it's being held in Suna this..."

"...but I needta peepee, Mama! I needta peepee _bad,_ Mama! If I don't get to go peepee Imma go peepee _right..."_

"...arriving any time now. The Hokage has everyone on high alert, but he's trying to be discreet about it- this is supposed to be a diplomatic mission after all."

 _There._ Doing her best to remain inconspicuous, Hinata drifted slightly closer to the pair of ninjas huddled together in the mouth of a narrow back alley. The two men ignored the tiny girl as she stood nearby, pretending to admire a random knicknack in the window of a nearby antique shop, one ear surreptitiously inclined towards them. "You think there's any chance there could be trouble?" one of them asked. "I thought Cloud were still pissed at us over the last war?"

"Nah, it'll all work out, I bet," said his companion confidently. "Cloud aren't here because they want trouble, they're as tired of this tension as we are. Peace in our time, I say. It'll all work out."

"Eh... just between you and me, I don't know if I really _want_ to be friends with those bastards," the first shinobi groused. "My mother and uncle both died in the Third War, and they're the ones who started it in the first place."

The other man scowled at him. "You're smart to want to keep that just between you and me, and you'd have been smarter still to have kept it to yourself altogether. Konoha can't afford another war at this time, and you know it. If Kumo came to us with peaceful intentions, then we can't turn them down."

 _Oh if only you knew what they are really here for,_ Hinata thought grimly. To this day she still didn't know for sure whether Cloud's overtures of peace towards Konoha had ever been truly sincere and her kidnapping had been a spur-of-the-moment act, or whether the entire delegation had merely been a sham to cover their plan to obtain the Byakugan from the start. But when the ambassador had been slain in the act of trying to abduct her, it had been the freshly-established treaty which Kumo had used as leverage to claim the life of his killer in repayment, leading to her uncle Hizashi's death in her father's place.

Moving away from the two shinobi, Hinata considered what she'd heard. So apparently even the Hokage didn't entirely trust their visitors. Or maybe he was just afraid of sabotage by an external third party. It was hard to say for sure- Sarutobi Hiruzen had liked to believe the best of people, but had also been a cautious and prudent leader. It could easily be both. Regardless, now she knew that Konoha's shinobi would be on alert for the duration of the Cloud delegation's visit. If she could alert them ahead of time when her would-be kidnapper was about to make his move, it might be possible for him to be captured non-lethally, or possibly even spooked out of making his attempt at all.

Hinata smiled to herself as the first stirrings of a plan began to come together in her mind. There was a way out of this dilemma, she had no doubt. All she had to do was find it.

Suddenly a delicious smell tickled her nose, distracting her. Hinata stopped in her tracks as the heavenly odour wafted out of the doorway of the shop in front of her. That was a smell she hadn't experienced in _years_. Hesitating for just a second, she turned and stepped into the bakery. There was no reason she couldn't plan just as well with a few cinnamon buns to help her think.

oooOOOooo

Hinata delicately licked the last traces of cinnamon from her fingers as she finished her second bun. Her fondness for sweets was something she hadn't indulged much in the years since she had left Konoha with Naruto, both from a lack of opportunity and a faint feeling of embarrassment, considering it somewhat unladylike or childish. But now that she was back in her childhood, she felt she could permit herself a little childishness every now and then.

She'd also bought a few extra buns to take back home to share with Hanabi and Neji, although Ko had politely declined the one she'd offered to him. So she still had three buns left in the paper bag she clasped to her chest as she trotted cheerfully down the road in high spirits.

Suddenly her attention was caught by a large crowd of people lining the road, further down near the central gate of the village. Her feet slowed to a halt as a sense of foreboding began to build up inside of her. Ko came up behind her, glancing down at her in surprise. "Hinata-sama, what is... are you alright?" Hinata ignored him. The people were lining the sides of the street as if to make way for a procession. From here, her short legs didn't allow her to see past the line of people standing between her and the gate, so she started to run down the street towards the crowd, a confused Ko trailing behind her.

Reaching the end of the crowd, Hinata leaned out into the street, craning her neck to see what the murmering people were watching. A shiver ran down her spine when she saw the mass of uniformed men marching up the center of the road in military formation. Their uniforms were similar to Konoha-nin, but the colours were different, darker blacks and greys with white highlights rather than the greens and blues she knew. Those were the colours of Kumogakure, the Hidden Village of Cloud.

Glancing briefly up at the rooftops, Hinata was barely able to catch a glimpse of a figure in a white animal mask surreptitiously watching over the scene- a Konoha ANBU-nin. There were undoubtedly many more concealed around the area, and she'd only been able to spot this one because of her own experience and training. Even though she knew she was in no danger at the moment, it reassured her to see the Hokage taking serious precautions with these visitors.

As the Cloud ninja advanced, she finally spotted him through a gap in their ranks, standing protected in the middle of their formation, and her jaw tightened, her teeth grinding against each other. That was him. That _had_ to be him. She didn't remember his face, but she just knew that was the man who had tried to steal her from her family, tried to steal her eyes. Waving casually to the crowd of civilians and smiling smugly, the Kumo ambassador had a narrow, pointed goatee, ornamental bandages wrapped around the top of his head, and wore his forehead protector across his right eye, like a mirrored version of Hatake Kakashi. Hinata stared at him, feeling anger roiling inside of her, a deep, violent loathing of this man who had splintered her family. As a child she'd been too frightened and confused to even realise what had happened when she'd awakened, and hadn't even thought about her kidnapper as anything other than a dark presence that had swooped down on her in the night. Now that she was able to see him coming, though, she was assailed by an almost unprecedented hatred for the man.

The smirking face turned slightly and the single exposed eye alighted on her. Her enemy's smile widened even further and he waved to her.

Hinata turned and fled.

oooOOOooo

It was several minutes before Hinata's flight ended. She came to a halt on the edge of a small park near the residential quarter, breathing heavily. It wasn't fear or panic that had prompted her to run when the Kumo ambassador had looked towards her- at that distance there was almost no chance he would have recognised her as his target and there had almost certainly been no deeper meaning behind the wave he'd directed in her direction. But she'd been simply unable to stand there and look at him any longer, pretending he was here to foster friendship between his village and hers, all the while planning the abduction of the heir to one of its greatest houses and the theft of one of the village's greatest secrets. It had made her sick to her stomach until she'd simply _had_ to leave.

Catching her breath, Hinata calmed herself. She was being childish. A veteran shinobi like her should have better control of their emotions than this. Really, she should be observing him as much as possible, looking for any clues to his intentions, watching out for any suspicious actions that might give her a warning or possibly even be used against him. She'd left Ko somewhere behind her, caught up in the crowd and yelling for her to come back. Even with her immature body, she could still move with impressive speed when she utilised her chakra and he'd been caught flat-footed when his charge had taken off without warning

 _Thock._

A sudden quiet crunching sound caught her attention. Hinata looked around for the its source in surprise. She thought this park had been completely empty when she'd arrived, but now she looked more carefully she spotted a small figure standing over on the far side, facing away from her towards the line of trees bordering the park. As she watched, the figure raised a hand and flung something at the tree in front of him, the impact making another small _crack_ as the object bounced off the bark.

The person had a head of spiky blond hair.

Hinata's heart skipped a beat.

Trembling, almost oblivious to what she was doing, she crept towards the young boy. As he bent down to pick another stone off the ground, she caught a glimpse of his profile. There was no-one else in the village she knew with hair like that, but she still caught her breath when she saw the telltale whisker marks on his cheeks.

 _Naruto-kun!_

The blond-haired boy -the love of her life, the one who'd given her the strength to persevere through adversity, the future father of her lost child- froze like a startled deer, then whirled around to stare at her. Hinata realised that she'd inadvertently spoken his name aloud and blushed deeply as his eyes pinned her. Under his blue-eyed gaze, all of a sudden she really did feel like a child again.

Something was wrong, though. With a shock, Hinata realised Naruto was looking at her in a way he never had before; he was _glaring_ at her. "Who are you?" he demanded with audible hostility. "What do you want with me?"

Hinata froze up. _This was a mistake, a big mistake._ While a lot of the memories of her childhood were faded with time, she still remembered every detail of the day of her first meeting with Naruto- and it had not been on this day. In fact, they weren't supposed to meet for almost a year yet, until just before would they start at the Academy. Naruto had saved her from a trio of bullies who had been harassing her, and although he'd been beaten up for his trouble, his courage had won Hinata's admiration, an admiration that would eventually bloom into a life-long infatuation. Now that first encounter would probably never happen- and Naruto's first impression of her was one of suspicion and hostility.

"Uh-uhm... I... uh..." Hinata stammered helplessly. "I... um... I'm... my name is... Hi-Hinata. Um, Hyuuga Hinata. Um."

The young Naruto eyed her suspiciously. "I don't know you. How do you know my name?"

Tongue-tied, Hinata stared at him blankly. How could she explain this one? "Umm... I... um, I, I heard about you... um... from-"

Naruto bluntly cut her off. "Did your mom and dad tell you that you to keep away from me too, huh? Did they tell you that I'm a monster too?" He glared at her angrily, moisture starting to glisten in the corners of his eyes. "What do you want? Do your parents know you're talking to a _monster?"_

Hinata felt tears stinging her own eyes. It wasn't the harshness with which the boy she loved was speaking to her that was upsetting her. It was the pain and loneliness behind those words that stabbed at her. "You're not a monster, Naruto-kun!" she cried, taking a hesitant step towards him. Naruto jumped back in shock at her outburst, the rock in his hand dropping to the ground. Hinata flushed awkwardly. That hadn't been a measured reaction, she'd allowed her emotions to take control of her mouth. While she didn't regret what she'd said, she needed to be more careful with her words, with Naruto more than anyone. He may not be the most observant of people, especially as a little boy who hadn't even started at the Academy yet, but her relationship with him had been the one part of her old life that she'd treasured, despite the tribulations they'd undergone together. It would be difficult to make improvements to that, and all-too-easy to carelessly ruin it. But seeing for the first time with her own eyes how much Naruto had suffered in his childhood, she also could not turn a blind eye.

Calming herself, she smiled shyly at Naruto in what she hoped was a comforting manner. "Um... you don't look like any kind of monster to me, Naruto-kun. You seem like a perfectly normal boy."

The last traces of hostility evaporated from the blond boy's expression, leaving only a slightly sad bewilderment. "Oh... thanks, uh... Hinata." Hearing her name from his lips again made her heart give another little skip. "So... you don't have any idea why they all whisper nasty things about me either? I thought maybe it was because I don't have a Mom or Dad of my own, but I dunno..."

 _Yes I do know, Naruto-kun, but there's no way I could possibly tell you, at least not now._ Hinata desperately searched for the right thing to say as precious seconds ticked away and Naruto's guileless blue eyes gazed at her questioningly. Sudden inspiration struck her. "My father once told me that people can sometimes believe silly things for a bad reason. He said that even if everyone in the world agreed that something wrong was right, that still wouldn't actually make it right." She shrugged dismissively and smiled. "So it doesn't matter what people say about you, Naruto-kun."

He stared at her, eyes wide with astonishment. "Wow! Your father must be a really smart man!" He edged closer to her, looking her up and down properly for the first time. "And you're dressed really nice, too." Hinata blushed, partly at the compliment but also at the sudden realisation of how her spotless, ornate yukata contrasted against the shorts and grubby t-shirt Naruta was dressed in, and clutched her bag of cinammon buns protectively in front of herself as if she could hide behind it. "You must be from a very important family or something."

The observation made Hinata squirm ever more. She'd never really been comfortable with the high social status that her position in the Hyuuga family had technically conferred on her. Ninja didn't have 'nobility' as such, as all ninja, even the Hyuuga, were ultimately just a cross between mercenary soldiers and black-ops agents, but the older, more powerful and more established families, especially those who possessed a bloodline limit, had developed a certain mystique about them which made them think of themselves as above other shinobi. Hinata had never liked this perception... but it was undeniable that she was from, as Naruto had just put it, "a very important family".

"Um... I suppose I am," she eventually answered reluctantly. Naruto's eyes went even wider at the admission. "The Hyuuga clan was one of the founding families of Konoha so... I guess we're pretty important. B-but... I-I'm not special!" she hurried to clarify, even if that wasn't exactly true. "S-so you don't have to-"

Naruto wasn't listening. His eyes shining, he bounded forward excitedly until he was right up Hinata's face. "Oh _wow!_ So you're like a princess or something?! That's incredible! That means you can do whatever you want, right?" He reached down and grabbed Hinata's limp hand between both of his own, holding it up between them. "So... do you think you could do me a small favour, please? You don't have to care about what anyone else says so... do you think you could... be my friend? You don't have to do anything else, just... just _be_ my friend. _Please?"_

Staring into Naruto's youthful face mere inches from her own, Hinata was paralysed. It was a face she knew better than anyone's, a face she loved, that had tenderly kissed her on the lips times beyond counting. But as five-year old Naruto's guileless blue eyes stared directly into hers, there was one overriding thought that filled her head.

Hinata's lips quirked and a sputter of breath escaped her lips, then she started giggling helplessly. Naruto rocked back as if she'd slapped him, releasing her hand and looking affronted. "Wh-what? What's so funny? Are you making fun of me?"

Struggling to control herself, Hinata looked into his indignant face, only for his indignant expression to make her crack up completely. "I-I'm sorry, Naruto-kun," she gasped out between fits of laughter. "I don't mean to l-laugh at you, b-but you're... you're just so cute!" Seeing her once-and-future lover staring her in the face with such a pleading puppy-dog look in his childish eyes was just more than she could stand.

Naruto's face flushed red with embarrassment. "Sh-shut up!" he yelled furiously. "I-I'm not cute! _You're_ the one who's cute!"

Now _that_ made her heart briefly beat faster, even in this rather comical context. Wiping her eyes, she contained her laughter and smiled at him. "I'm sorry, Naruto-kun." He scowled defensively. "Really, I'm sorry." Briefly bending down to place her bag of cinnamon buns on the ground beside her, she reached out and gently took one of the hands he'd drawn up in front of his body, holding it in both of hers. "Nothing would make me happier than being your friend."

For a moment her looked her uncomprehendingly, as if he couldn't quite believe what his ears were telling him. Then his expression exploded in the brilliant toothy grin that had always brightened her life. "You... you will...?! You'll be my _friend?!"_ The way he said the word, it was as if Hinata had just offered to make him Hokage on the spot. It was good that such a small thing could make him smile with such delight, but by the same token it was sad that he was treating such a small thing as if it were the best thing that had ever happened to him in his young life. Quite possibly it was. He brought his free hand up to take hers, so all four of their hands were clasped tightly together and shook them enthusiastically as if they were sealing a deal. "Oh thank you, Hi-Hinata-chan!" He stumbled over her name with the newly-adopted honorific uncertainly, but his smile never wavered and Hinata returned it with all the warmth she had.

After a few moments, Naruto released her hands. "OK! So!" He sounded like he'd just been hooked up to an extra-powerful battery of happiness. "What do you want to do now, Hinata-chan?"

The question caught her off-guard. "Erm... I don't know," she admitted. "Um... what were you doing when I arrived, Naruto-kun?"

He grinned at her brilliantly. "I was practising my shuriken skills! One day I'm going to become Hokage of this village, so I'm starting my training early." He bent down, picked up a small, flattish stone from the ground, possibly the same one he'd dropped before, and straightened up, tossing it lightly up and down in his palm. "See that tree over there?" he said, nodding towards the line of trees that bordered the park. Hinata had no idea which of the trees in particular he was referring to, but nodded accomodatingly anyway. "I'm trying to hit it right in the middle. I've got pretty close already, I bet I can hit it dead-centre in a few more tries." Tossing the stone lightly up and catching it one more time, he gripped it purposefully and slung it towards the tree.

The improvised projectile sailed past the trunk and disappeared into the shrubbery. Naruto scowled in disappointment. "Darn it!" he fumed. "I had it before!" He glanced and scooped up another stone, squinted at the target, raised his hand again... then lowered it again and turned to Hinata. "Eh... would you like a go, Hinata-chan?" He offered the stone to her.

Hinata blinked at him in surprise and hesitantly took it from his hand. Weighing the pebble carefully, she eyed up the distance between herself and the tree. A stone was different from a shuriken, of course, but hitting the target dead-on would still be no challenge to her. She pulled back her hand, ready to release- and hesitated.

After Naruto had missed his shot, would it upset him if she hit the target so easily? Maybe it'd be better if she deliberately missed, to make him feel better? She knew he wouldn't resent her if she outdid him, but he _was_ fiercely competitive, with a serious inferiority complex owing to his childhood experiences. And she was only supposed to be a child herself; despite her instinctive desire to only show Naruto her best, displaying the accuracy of a veteran kunoichi would be a mistake.

She realised that Naruto was starting to stare at her questioningly as she dithered, and hastily readied herself to throw the pebble again, this time aiming for the space on the opposite side of the trunk to where Naruto's stone had gone. Just as she was in the middle of her throwing action-

 _"Hinata-sama!"_

The sudden shout from behind her made her jump with shock, sending her throw astray. It bounced squarely off the middle of the target tree's trunk, but neither she nor Naruto noticed as they looked around for the origin of the voice. Hyuuga Ko's face was a picture of frantic relief as he ran up to her, panting as if he'd run all over Konoha. "Th- _there_ you are, Hinata-sama!" he gasped, leaning over with his hands on his knees. "You mustn't r-run off like that! Do you have any idea how much trouble there'd be if-" He took a deep breath. "-if anything happened to you?!"

 _Only too well, I'm afraid._ Naruto stared at her bodyguard curiously as he finished catching his breath. "Uh, is this... your big brother, Hinata-chan?"

Hinata blinked. She supposed it was an easy mistake to make under the circumstances, as the Hyuuga blood meant almost all members of the clan shared similar features. "Um, no, this Hyuuga Ko, my bodygua- _kyaa!"_ She couldn't help letting out a small startled shriek as Ko straightened up and suddenly grabbed her by the wrist.

"Hinata-sama, it's time for you to return home now," he ordered. "I think you've had enough excitement for one day." Completely ignoring Naruto as if he wasn't even there, he took a step towards the gate of the park, not dragging Hinata with him, but applying just enough pressure to compel her to follow.

She wavered. While Hinata could sympathise with Ko's feelings, as he would have undoubtedly been frantic with worry after his young charge had run off on her own, she instinctively resisted the pull, not wanting Naruto see her be dragged away from him like this. Even as she tried to process these thoughts, Naruto flared up angrily beside her. "Hey! Hinata-chan isn't ready to go yet! Let her go!" Leaping forward, the little blond boy grabbed Hinata by her free hand and pulled her back, stretching her between himself and Ko like a tug-of-war rope and bringing the teenage bodyguard to a halt.

For the first time since he'd arrived at the park, Ko was forced to acknowledge Naruto's presence, glaring down at him with icy disdain. "Take your hands off Hinata-sama this instant, or I will remove them myself." Naruto glared back belligerently, hackles rising, ready to do almost anything other than back down.

 _This is bad. This is really, REALLY bad!_ Desperately fighting down panic and thinking as fast as she could, Hinata twisted her wrists out of the grip of both boys, hopping a step back from them. As they both turned to her in surprise, she spoke as quickly as possible. "I'm sorry, Naruto-kun, but I'm afraid I do actually have to return home now, I've been out longer than I should have. I'll spend more time with you next time, I promise." Grabbing a startled Ko by the wrist the same way he'd only just done to her, she took off for the park gate, pulling her bewildered bodyguard behind her and turning to wave to Naruto over her shoulder. "Bye-bye, Naruto-kun!"

The blond boy waved back at her somewhat forlornly, a disappointed look on his face. "Uh... bye-bye, Hinata-chan." He looked down sadly at his feet- then blinked in surprise and bent down, coming up with a brown paper bag in his hands. "Hang on Hinata-chan, what about your-" He hesitated for a second and sniffed the top of the bag. "-your, uh, sweets?"

"You keep them, Naruto-kun," she called back without stopping. "I hope you like cinnamon buns." As she recalled, while they'd never been his _favourite_ food as they had been for her (nothing would ever displace his love of ramen), he'd certainly liked them well enough whenever they'd shared them together. At the gate of the park, she released the dumbstruck Ko and turned back to face Naruto, who'd removed one of the buns from the bag and was looking at it cautiously, as if it might explode. As he looked across at her again, she bowed politely. "I'll see you again, Naruto-kun!" she called out.

He managed a return nod. "See you, Hinata-chan!" As she walked off, heading in the direction of the Hyuuga compound with Ko trailing behind her, she saw Naruto take a hesitant bite of the bun... and his young face lit up with delight.

oooOOOooo

A melange of mixed feelings roiled within Hinata as she walked back towards the Hyuuga compound. While meeting with Naruto again had given her spirits a boost, she couldn't forget that he _wasn't_ the same young man she'd loved, who only three days ago had died fifteen years in the future. While she'd been relieved at the outcome of the encounter, befriending Naruto at one of the lowest points of his life, she also feared for the possible consequences such an unscheduled adjustment might wreak on the future. And while she understood Ko's reasons for being upset, his obvious disdain for Naruto -disdain the likes of which he'd already be well-familiar with in his short life- upset her just as much as it did him, if not more.

Ko had been following along behind his young mistress in brooding silence ever since they'd left the park, but when the gates of the Hyuuga estate came into sight he finally broke the silence. "Hinata-sama, if I might presume to have a word with you before we arrive back home?"

She sighed internally and turned back to face him. She'd expected as much, under the circumstances, and had braced herself for this. "What is it, Ko-san?" _As if I can't guess..._

He frowned down at her. "Hinata-sama, that boy you met in the park... I know you promised to see him again, but you should not associate with him any further." She opened her mouth to reply, but he cut her off. "I understand that you are a very kind and good-hearted person, Hinata-sama, but for your own good it is best that you stay away from that boy. He's not a fit companion for someone in your position."

With some effort, Hinata managed to rein in her temper. While her first instinct was to put her foot down and assert her authority as the heir to the clan, the simple fact was that she was still a child, so she didn't _have_ any actual authority, and any attempt to throw her weight around would have no more impact than a childish temper tantrum. She couldn't even try to lever family power dynamics, as her bodyguard was a member of the main family, not the branch. And in any case, misguided as he was, Ko was only acting in what he sincerely believed was her best interests. "Ko-san, Naruto-kun is a nice boy. There's nothing wrong with him and I want to be his friend."

The genin squirmed uncomfortably. Hinata knew what he was thinking and why- bound by the Third Hokage's edict, he was forbidden from sharing the secret of Naruto's birth with anyone who did not already know about it. "Hinata-sama... I just need you to take my word on this matter. The boy is a magnet for trouble, and it would reflect poorly on you and the family for you to be seen with him."

That wasn't entirely _untrue,_ strictly speaking; if word got around that the heir to one of the village's most prestigious and respectable families had befriended the village pariah, it would certainly cause a stir, possibly even a scandal. Ko's biggest error was in believing that Hinata would give a damn.

At least, if she was too young to have any authority, she could take advantage of the leeway her youth afforded her. She put on a look of confusion. "How would it reflect poorly on us, Ko-san? You haven't told me what's wrong with Naruto-kun and I'm sure he's a good boy. Did he do something bad?"

If Ko had been uncomfortable before, now he looked like ants had crawled into his shoes while he was standing at rigid attention before the Hokage. Hinata even started to feel sorry for him. "Well, uh..." She wondered if he would start to make up outright lies about Naruto just to get off the spot, although Ko had never been a talented liar. "It's not so much anything he's _done,_ as such... um... the boy is..." He fumbled for the right words. "...just too low-class to accompany someone from such a prestigious family as yourself, Hinata-sama."

She wasn't entirely surprised to see Ko take refuge in simple clan snobbery- he was not a naturally arrogant man by nature and probably didn't really mean what he was saying, but it was a plausible general-purpose excuse that allowed him to sidestep his real reasons for not wanting his charge to be near the host of the Kyuubi. But the words still upset her and she frowned. "So what, are you saying he's not as... as good as me? But... why? What makes me better than him?"

"The family you were born into, Hinata-sama," Ko answered promptly, recovering his composure somewhat. "You were fortunate to be born into the Hyuuga clan, one of the oldest and most respectable clans in Konoha. The boy is a nobody, an orphan with no family. For you to associate with him would be seen as highly improper.

 _I have you, Ko-san!_ "But that's not right, Ko-san!" she protested, carefully keeping any note of triumph out of her voice. "If I'm more fortunate than Naruto-kun for being born into this family, then shouldn't I be kind to those who aren't as lucky as me?" Ko's mouth dropped open and he looked like a stunned mullet. "All he wants is for me to be his friend," Hinata went on, "and that's the least I can do for him." She pouted childishly. "I don't care if it's not 'proper'. Naruto-kun is lonely and I want to help him!"

Ko's slack mouth moved silently as he tried to come up an answer to Hinata's invocation of _noblesse oblige._ "Uh, well, um," he stammered awkwardly, then pulled himself together. "W-well just wait until we get home," he came back lamely, throwing in the towel. "I'm sure your father will be able to make you understand better than I can."

 _That's not good._ "Oh come on, Ko-san," she pleaded. "You don't have to let my father know about this." Even she realised that was a weak argument. Honestly, Ko was perfectly justified in reporting her meeting with Naruto to her father, especially with the circumstances under which it had happened. But if even Ko was already being this difficult, then having the same struggle with her father was a battle she'd sooner avoid.

Ko was unmoved by her plea. "That's out of the question, Hinata-sama. You're too young to understand this at the moment, but I must let your father know about this. It's for your own good."

 _I know you_ think _so, Ko-san, but you don't understand._ Hinata bit her lip in frustration, unsure of how to proceed. She didn't want to have an argument with her father about Naruto, certainly not now of all times. Her mind rapidly skipped ahead to look for a way through that conversation- would she be able to persuade her father to see things her way, or would she be forced to bow to his wishes and sneak out to see Naruto behind her family's back? She shook her head, frustrated. "Ko-san, really I-"

"Enough, Hinata-sama," Ko cut her off with finality. "This is a matter for Hiashi-sama now. I'm sorry, but you really don't understand how important this matter is."

Hinata opened her mouth to argue... then shut it again. There was no winning this one. Ko simply wasn't willing to discuss it any further. Pouting, she turned away from him and started trudging towards the gate of the Hyuuga compound again, her guardian falling in silently behind her. There was no point fuming over this loss, she needed to prepare to deal with her father's disapproval.

oooOOOooo

The pair were standing in the entrance hall of the manor, putting their sandals away in the cupboard, when Hyuuga Hiashi himself swept into the hall, shadowed by his twin brother. Hinata's face fell and Ko stood to attention, but the two men weren't here to welcome them back. Hizashi went directly to the cupboard and pulled out two matching pairs of sandals while Hinata's father turned to them. "Welcome back Hinata, Ko. I'm afraid I'm going to be absent for the rest of the day, as I have to attend a reception at the Hokage Tower that will last until after dinner. I'll see you tomorrow."

A chill ran down Hinata's spine as she realised who the reception must be for. "Um, Father I-"

"Forgive me, Hinata, but whatever it is will have to wait," he cut her off as Hizashi laid his sandals down before him. Stooping down, the Hyuuga clan leader dexterously slipped his footwear on and buckled them up. As he tugged the last strap tight, he glanced up at them. "There isn't anything urgent you need to tell me, is there?"

Ko squirmed. "Hiashi-sama-"

"No, Father, nothing urgent," Hinata cut him off. Ko shut his mouth and gave her a reproachful look as Hiashi nodded and straightened up. His brother was already waiting by the front door for him. "Very well. Ko, I entrust Hinata's training to you today." He glanced across at Hizashi, who answered him with a single wordless nod. "Take Neji with you as well."

Ko kept his face expressionless. "Yes, Hiashi-sama." Without another word, Hizashi pulled the door open for his brother, and Hiashi strode out, his twin falling in behind him.

As the screen door slid shut behind them, Hinata let out a silent breath. A temporary reprieve.

oooOOOooo

That night, as Chizuru was tucking her into her futon, Hinata was struck by an idea.

Training with Ko and Neji after lunch had been... interesting. Hinata was not naturally vindictive and Ko _was_ a special person to her, but her argument with him over the subject of Naruto had left her feeling unusually frustrated with him. After he'd run the pair of them through their jyuuken drills, practicing all the basic stances and forms, he squared up against Hinata to spar with her, like her father usually did. Still fuming internally over her bodyguard's refusal to listen to her, Hinata hadn't been able to resist taking some of this frustration out against him on the dojo floor.

Oh, she hadn't hit him, not even accidentally. Well, apart from one time when, in his own mounting frustration, he'd stepped _blatantly_ too far forward in an attempt to land a blow on her and she'd neatly ducked the blow and kicked his overextended foot out, sending him stumbling to one knee. Other than that she spent the entire sparring session flawlessly deflecting Ko's strikes, launching perfectly-measured blows that he had to fully commit to warding off, and generally making it quite clear that there was little if anything he could teach her. Maybe it hadn't been the smartest thing she'd ever done, but Hinata was fed up with the feelings of helplessness that had been plaguing her the last several days and just _had_ to get a bit of her own back.

Things grew a bit more difficult after that when Ko got her to spar against Neji. Hinata didn't want to make her cousin feel inadequate, but it was extremely difficult to fight at a level that wouldn't overwhelm him without making it obvious that she was holding back. Neji was sharp enough to be able to tell when she wasn't giving it her all, so she settled on taking a subtly more aggressive stance against him, making attacks that he had to use all of his abilities to deflect but also leaving herself more open to counterattacks without it looking deliberate, making it seem like more of an even contest. She wasn't entirely certain that it had worked, but when the two cousins bowed to each other at the end of their training session, there had been a glint in Neji's eye that might have been appreciation.

Just like her father had said, neither he nor her uncle had returned by the time dinner was over, so Hinata retired to bed. It was when Chizuru was smoothing the futon down and brushing her bangs out of her eyes that the idea came to her. It had to be worth a try at least. "Chizuru-san, I met a nice boy when I was out today."

The old woman chuckled as she sat beside Hinata's bedside. "Dear me, Hinata-sama, are you looking at boys already? My, aren't you being precocious all of a sudden!"

She blushed at the implication. "Oh no, Chizuru-san, I didn't mean like that!" _Although if only you knew..._ "I just met him in a park and talked to him for a little bit, but Ko-san made a fuss about it and we had to go."

The old woman clucked her tongue disapprovingly. "Tch, that boy. Far too serious for his age. I suppose it should be considered a virtue in a bodyguard, but he should be more considerate of a young girl's feelings." She smiled. "So what was his name then, this nice boy?"

This was it. _Please don't disappoint me, Chizuru-san._ "Um... his name was Uzumaki Naruto."

As expected, Chizuru went very still. "Uzumaki Naruto?" she asked cautiously. "Spikey blond hair? Three lines on each of his cheeks?" Hinata nodded and Chizuru carefully concealed her discomfort. "That's... interesting, Hinata-sama. Did he want anything from you?"

This looked promising. While Chizuru was predictably disconcerted by the idea of her little mistress being close to the host of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox, a reaction which was honestly not _entirely_ unreasonable for those who didn't know Naruto in person, she so far hadn't shown the knee-jerk disdain and hatred that most people had treated Naruto with during his childhood. "No, he didn't ask me for anything except, well... just to be his friend. He said he didn't have any friends or parents or anyone at all. Even Ko-san said I shouldn't go near him. He seemed so lonely..." _Please, Chizuru-san, please,_ please _react the way I want to believe you will!_

The old woman did not disappoint. Her age-lined face melted with sympathy. "Oh... the poor child. I'd... never thought about-" She managed to catch herself before she said too much and Hinata could practically see the thoughts in her head quickly recalibrating. "Well, Hinata-sama, I think I know what was bothering Ko-kun, but it's nothing you need to worry about. It was a kind thing you did to offer to be the boy's friend like that. Maybe I'll go and have a quick word with Ko-kun about it for you."

Hinata's heart leaped. She'd had a feeling that if there was one person in this stage of her life she could trust to take her side in this, it would be the kindly old retainer. "Oh... but Ko-san said he absolutely had to tell my father about my meeting with Naruto-kun, and then he'd explain to me why I can't be his friend."

That made Chizuru hesitate a bit. "Well... technically he's not wrong." Like Ko, she was visibly uncomfortable at treading so close to the edge of the Third Hokage's prohibition. "Well, maybe I'll have a word to Hiashi-sama as well. I've known him since he was just a little boy, and while he seems stern, I know he's truly a compassionate man. I'm sure he'll have a heart for Naruto-kun."

Hinata smiled gratefully. While she thought that Chizuru might have been overestimating her father's sense of sentiment compared to his duty to the clan, she knew he was a reasonable man. As long as Chizuru could prompt him to think rationally rather than reacting to Naruto with the same thoughtless prejudice that most of the people in Konoha did, he should be willing to at least listen to Hinata's pleas for him to accept her friendship with him. "Thank you, Chizuru-san. That would be very nice of you."

The old woman patted her on the head reassuringly. "Think nothing of it, Hinata-sama. Anything I can do to help." She rose smoothly to her feet and padded across to the door. "Good night, Hinata-sama."

"Good night, Chizuru-san."

The old woman switched off the light and slid the screen door closed, leaving Hinata in darkness. She snuggled down in her futon, smiling to herself. Despite the problems she'd had with Ko and her ongoing concerns about the Cloud ambassador, she couldn't help feeling a bit giddy. _Naruto-kun!_ Even though he wasn't _her_ Naruto, he was still the same boy she'd admired and eventually grown to love, already committed to his dream of one day becoming Hokage to earn the acknowledgement of the whole village.

During her first life, one of her greatest regrets was that he hadn't been there for Naruto during the dark times of his youth. The thought that this time around she could alleviate his loneliness and give him at least a slightly happier childhood filled her with a warm, satisfied feeling. _That's right. Start with the small things first. Fixing the bigger issues, changing the path of the future, those will come with time, as long as I do what I can, when I can._

Although sleep was inviting, Hinata knew she couldn't succumb to it just yet. Lying in her futon was just too comfortable, so she climbed up from her bed and went over to the window, pushing the screen aside to let the moonlight flood the room. Folding her fingers into the seal she'd practiced a thousand times, she whispered _"Byakugan!"_ Her vision expanded out around her a hundredfold as she exercised the heritage of her bloodline, although she was disappointed to find that the range was much lower than it had been in her adult body. Well, she supposed that was to be expected- the power of the Byakugan increased with age and use, and no matter how good her old eyes had been, she was effectively starting afresh with a new set here.

Even with her reduced vision, her eyes detected no creeping intruders sneaking through the garden or peering over the walls of the compound, although in truth she didn't _really_ expect the Cloud ambassador to try and abduct her on his first evening in Konoha. But with her father and uncle both absent, she felt she had to at least take basic precautions of her own. Her eyes detected only a few members of the Hyuuga family moving through the house near her room, but it would still be best to wait until there was no chance of her being caught. The girl perched patiently on the windowsill, staring up at the moon but constantly on alert, as she waited for all activity in this part of the house to stop.

It was only another twenty minutes until she judged the house to be still enough for her to act. Padding silently across to the desk set against the wall of her room, she switched on the light and opened the drawer, seeking what her memory told her should be in there. Sure enough, the brush set and inkstone she'd been gifted with when she began to learn calligraphy was there, along with several sheets of paper that would serve her purpose admirably. Setting them on the desk, Hinata carefully cut them into appropriately-sized strips. Preparing the ink, she took a moment to remember exactly how to replicate the seal.

 _Ah, that's right._ The seal in question was one she'd created herself during her and Naruto's time hiding out from Akatsuki. Able to be placed on any surface but most often put at the edge where a closed door or window met the frame, when it was carelessly disturbed (such as by the door being opened, or by being trodden on by an unwary intruder) it would unleash a devastatingly-loud sound akin to a thunderclap, alerting everyone within earshot and waking even the deepest sleeper, as well as having the added bonus of deafening the startled interloper. Hinata smiled to herself as she recalled the shell-shocked expression she'd seen on Hoshigaki Kisame's face as a furious Naruto had driven him back through the shattered door of their inn room and brutally laid into him during one of their more daring escapes. It had been one of the only times an Akatsuki member had been forced to flee from _them,_ as well as the last time Akatsuki had ever sent solo agents to try and catch them.Naruto could be _mean_ when disturbed in bed, especially since he'd been passionately making out with her at the time.

As soon as the ink on the improvised wards was dry, Hinata carefully applied them to the door of her room and the closed window, sealing them in place with chakra. After some more consideration she flung one up to adhere to the ceiling, in case her would-be kidnapper broke in through the roof and, just in case, placed four on the floor around her futon as a last resort. Satisfied, she carefully climbed back into her bed. She was about as well-protected as she could hope to be at the moment. Now the only thing she needed to do was wake up early enough to remove the seals again before Chizuru came in to get her up tomorrow. The last thing she wanted to have to do was explain the presence of these defences to the family after a mere false alarm, and she'd hate to give the old woman a heart attack. Fortunately another thing she'd learned during her years as a kunoichi was how to set her internal clock to wake her up whenever she needed to, so she should be able to rise just before sunup.

Smiling to herself, satisfied with her precautions, Hinata closed her eyes, took a deep breath and drifted off to sleep.

TO BE CONTINUED...

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AFTERWORD: This chapter was supposed to be moving things along a bit faster, but I ended up getting a bit caught on the ending sequence. It still ended up running longer than I'd intended, even though it didn't cover a much content as I'd hoped (I had to change the original name, moving it to the title of the next chapter instead). That said, I did enjoy writing the scene with Hinata and young Naruto. Don't really have much else to say, although I have done a lot more planning for future chapters recently, and I think I've got some REALLY good writing to do for you...

NEXT TIME...

The moment of truth finally arrives... or does it? Hinata braces herself for attack, prepared to fight to change the future, but finds herself wracked by uncertainty. Will all her efforts be for naught, or will she succeed in altering fate in chapter 5 of For Love, **'Fight for Family'.**

-Arcane Azmadi, 2017


	5. Chapter 5 - Fight for Family

FOR LOVE.

 **Disclaimer:** Never pet a burning dog.

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Chapter 5: Fight for Family.

Hinata's internal clock worked flawlessly. Rising just before dawn, she silently crept around her room in the dark, peeling her alarm seals off the floor, door and window of her room. Reaching the one she'd adhered to the ceiling required a bit more effort, but after determining that nobody was about to walk in and catch her doing something that would have been advanced for a fully-trained Academy graduate, she swiftly leaped up to cling to the wood panels overhead, removed the final seal, and dropped noiselessly back to the tatami matting. Carefully concealing the deactivated seals at the back of her desk drawer, Hinata crept back into her futon to await a more appropriate time to rise.

Less than twenty minutes later, with the sun peering over the walls of the Hyuuga compound, Chizuru knocked on the door of her room, and Hinata stopped feigning sleep to begin her day proper.

oooOOOooo

The day proceeded like any other normal day from Hinata's childhood. After breakfast she was called to one of the twice-weekly calligraphy lessons with Mistress Hisui that she'd been attending ever since she was old enough to hold a brush. Even if she were the heir to one of Konoha's most powerful shinobi clans, the Hyuuga prided themselves on their dignity as much as their strength, and as such Hinata was expected to be well-versed in cultural and artistic matters. Once she started at the Academy there would barely be any time for such things, so she was required to master them as soon as possible. Despite having already learned all these skills the first time around, Hinata was surprised to find herself enjoying the lesson. Even though she'd found calligraphy boring as a child, she'd developed a greater appreciation for it later in life when the skills she'd learned had helped her with the creation of more advanced seals, including the alarm seal she was using to protect herself now. And in truth, with all the stress she'd been under for the past few days, watching the graceful sweeps of the brush in her hand become elegant characters was a pleasantly relaxing experience. Hisui was, if anything, stricter and even more sparing with her praise than her father was, but Hinata's neat brushwork still earned her an approving nod from the teacher.

After lunch, there was another training session with her father. Hizashi and Neji were absent this time, although this was not that unusual, so it was just the father and daughter. Hinata was careful to keep her performance flawless, but only for her age, enacting her strikes and parries smoothly and with confidence, but not with the kind of power and accuracy that would force Hiashi to fight her seriously. At one point she noticed him subtly ramping up the intensity of his attacks beyond a level that would be reasonable for her to be able to handle, testing for a repeat of what he had perceived as a flash of brilliance but had actually been a loss of self-control. Hinata fought back her instincts and slowly gave ground, allowing her father to overwhelm her until she dropped to one knee with a gasp.

As Hiashi backed away from her, Hinata half-expected a rebuke for her failure, but he merely nodded. "Good, Hinata. That is enough for today." Hinata nodded, relieved, and the two bowed formally to each other. Retrieving her towel from near the door of the dojo, she wiped the sweat from her face. While she still had all her skill left from her previous life, her current body still did not have the stamina and endurance that years of training would give her.

Once she'd fully recovered (Hinata didn't think she'd ever seen Hyuuga Hiashi shed a single drop of sweat in his life), her father bade her sit on the dojo floor opposite him. Feeling a sudden twinge of unease again, Hinata knelt on the boards in _seiza,_ hands folded neatly on her lap. She'd been anticipating this would happen ever since yesterday. Kneeling a few feet in front of her, Hiashi cleared his throat. "Hinata. This morning, Ko told me about what happened yesterday."

 _I knew it._ "Yes, Father," she replied, her voice level.

Her father frowned. "You should not have run away from him, Hinata. Ko accompanies you for your protection. I allowed you to go out with the understanding that he would be watching over you."

"I am sorry, Father," she said, contrite but calm. In truth, she _did_ regret losing her composure at the mere sight of her would-be kidnapper the day before. If she wanted to change the future, she couldn't afford such temperamental emotional displays. It was beginning to become a recurring problem for her since she'd returned to the past, and the sooner she could curb it the better.

"He also told me about what happened afterwards," Hiashi continued sternly. Hinata's pulse quickened. "Your meeting with the boy called Uzumaki Naruto."

Her mind raced. Should she take the initiative, or just allow her father to speak first? She nodded. "Yes, Father. Naruto-kun is a nice boy and he asked me to be his friend."

Her father's face grew grave. "Yes, I heard as such. Chizuru-san came to speak to me this morning shortly after Ko did. I assume you appealed to her better nature last night?

"I don't expect you to understand this yet, Hinata, but what Ko told you is more or less correct. Uzumaki Naruto is held in extremely low regard in Konoha. Because of circumstances I cannot fully disclose, there is a general unspoken agreement that he is to be left alone as much as possible. It is not considered socially acceptable to associate with him."

Hinata sighed internally. She knew, far better than her father could ever suspect, _exactly_ why Naruto was ostracised in the village, and was not all that surprised to hear him repeating the same arguments she'd already heard from Ko yesterday. "But father-"

"Hinata." Hiashi cut her off firmly, but not harshly. "Let me finish." She shut her mouth and sat in resigned silence. She didn't want to hear his words, dismissing Naruto as unworthy, deserving to suffer alone. What could she say to change his mind?

Hiashi coughed quietly. "However, there is more to Uzumaki Naruto than most people even know. There is a perception among many people that he is potentially dangerous." Hinata opened her mouth again to protest, but her father raised his hand to forestall her. "However I do not share these beliefs, and do not see any real justification to treat him as anything other than a normal child."

Hinata stared at her father as if he had just said he was planning to join a theatre troupe to perform the role of Princess Kaguya. "Father...? Do... do you mean...?"

"I will not forbid you from befriending Uzumaki Naruto if you wish," Hiashi confirmed, "as long as you follow these guidelines: you must be accompanied by Chizuru-san or another senior member of the family whenever you go out to meet him. Do not needlessly publically advertise your association with him and be discreet when possible. Do _not_ attempt to sneak away from your escort to anywhere that you cannot be seen. I do not believe the boy will do any harm to you, but for both your welfare and his you should stay where you can be seen. And finally, do not agree to take part in any inappropriate, troublemaking behavior or mischief, no matter how much he pressures you to do so. Is that understood, Hinata?"

It took Hinata a few seconds to realise her mouth was hanging open in shock and she hastily snapped it shut before her father could chide her for such undignified behavior. _Oh... Father, did you_ really _just say all that? I... I can't believe it!_ An overwhelming feeling of affection and pride swelled up within her; only in her wildest dreams had she imagined her stoic father would be this understanding. Uncharacteristic as it was in their family, at that moment she could have kissed him. She gulped. "Ye-yes, Father, I understand!" she practically squeaked. "Th-thank you, Father!" _And thank you, Chizuru-san!_ She bowed formally to him, leaving her face down close to the wooden floor of the dojo long enough to hide her smile.

Hiashi seemed almost abashed by his daughter's gratitude, waving his hand dismissively. "Sit up, Hinata." Suppressing the smile, Hinata sat up again. "There are those who will undoubtedly claim that the Uzumaki boy will be a bad influence on you, Hinata," he warned her, "so I hope instead that you will prove to be a good influence on him. Do not make me regret this decision."

"You never will, Father," she promised him solemnly. "I promise." _I can actually guarantee it, Father. For I know, better than you know or could imagine, what Naruto-kun is and what he will be._

Her father nodded, satisfied. "Very good. You may go, Hinata."

She began to rise- then hesitated. "Ah... pardon me, Father, but I was wondering something."

"What would that be, Hinata?"

Her mind raced as she hurriedly pieced together in her mind the best way to approach this. "Um, where did you and Uncle Hizashi go to last night?"

Hiashi raised a thin eyebrow, but didn't question her sudden interest. It wasn't _that_ unusual a question after all. "A diplomat arrived from Kumogakure yesterday in order to finalise the details of the peace treaty between their village and Konoha. The Hokage held a dinner to welcome him and my presence was required to represent the Hyuuga clan." He smiled slightly. "When you eventually succeed me as head of the clan, you will also be required to attend similar functions."

Hinata nodded. "I see. How long are the Kumo people going to be in Konoha for?"

This time Hiashi frowned slightly. "Hmm. Barring some unforeseen complications, the negotiations shouldn't take much longer than two to three days, and once they're complete I doubt the delegation will remain more than another day at most."

 _Three to four more days,_ Hinata ruminated. _It will happen in the next three to four days._ If she kept her guard up, she'd be ready for her enemy and could hopefully prevent the circumstances that led to the death of her uncle.

One more question danced on the tip of her tongue. _"Did you meet the Kumo delegate, Father? What kind of man is he?"_ But she barely managed to stop herself from pushing her luck too far. Ko would probably have mentioned in his report that it was during the arrival procession for the Cloud delegation that she'd run away from him. Probing any further would eventually lead to pointed questions about what she found so troubling about them. _And what am I hoping to gain, anyway? Do I just want to hear Father say that he doesn't trust the man, or dislikes him, so I can feel satisfied about his perceptiveness?_ Instead she simply said "I see. Thank you, Father."

Hiashi nodded to his daughter again to dismiss her and Hinata left the dojo, mind racing.

oooOOOooo

The next few days were a tense time for Hinata. Although her father had given his blessing to befriending Naruto, she found herself without much time to go out, and subsequently decided that it would be safer to defer doing so until the present danger had passed. Even with the guidelines her father had laid down for her protection, the idea of going out in public while the Kumo delegation had the run of Konoha made Hinata feel horribly exposed. So in between her standard daily lessons, she did her utmost to prepare herself for the inevitable encounter.

When she was given time to relax after her lessons, she would "play" in the garden, surreptitiously using her regretfully short-ranged Byakugan to scan the area around the Hyuuga mansion for potential observers. The day after the talk with her father she thought she'd found a suspicious figure positioned on top of a nearby tower, spying on the compound from a distance, but closer examination revealed the man to be a Konoha ANBU, who moved on after only a few minutes anyway. Doing the same thing the next morning, she detected two men who were unmistakably Kumo-nin strolling past the walls of the mansion, but they seemed to be just passing by and didn't even slow down before moving on.

She received a much nastier scare that afternoon when a small group from the Cloud delegation paid a formal visit to the Hyuuga clan. When she received word that they would be receiving the guests from Kumo, Hinata almost had a panic attack at the idea of her enemy brazenly marching in to scout out his target right under the noses of her family, but this was ameliorated when it turned out that the ambassador from Kumo was unexpectedly _not_ among the group visiting her home. Their visitors consisted of only one of Kumo's elder councillors, who had accompanied the delegation as an advisor, and three senior jounin, as it turned out the ambassador had accepted a prior invitation to visit the Uchiha clan instead. Despite his attempts to conceal it, Hinata could read her father well enough to sense his indignation at the implied snub.

While Hinata was formally brought forward to greet their visitors, once this was done she was dismissed again and left to her own devices until dinner. While she was relieved to be out of the presence of the Kumo-nin, she was also puzzled by the absence of the ambassador. If this was a reconnaissance mission to scout out the Hyuuga compound in advance of the kidnapping, then why was the man who would actually be carrying out the infiltration itself not present? While the Kumo-nin who were present could obviously deliver a detailed report to their leader, it would still be far more efficient for him to have a first-hand experience of his mission area before his attack.

That night, Hinata was more paranoid than ever. As well as making up and placing additional alarm seals around her room until it was practically wallpapered with them, she concealed a pair of kunai she'd stolen from Ko inside her sleeping robe in case a chakra suppressant was used on her (a habit she'd grown used to during her time on the run). But even that wasn't enough to give her enough self-assurance to close her eyes and drift into sleep. After much agonised considersation, she decided to resort to drastic measures.

Among the many techniques she, Naruto, and their friends had developed during their hopeless guerilla war against Akatsuki was a technique -not a jutsu, but a physical and mental discipline- invented by Sakura that would allow one to remain awake, alert and ready for action while still allowing the body and mind to rest. The group had used it for circumstances just like the one she was in now, when they needed to sleep but were anticipating an attack at any moment. The problem with it was that the ninja using it would be effectively running their body on 'credit', and excessive use would burn them out in short order. In particular, she didn't know how long her much younger and weaker child's body could sustain the technique's use, and once she was forced to desist she would be absolutely crippled by exhaustion until she'd caught up. But if she could maintain it for just long enough to prevent the kidnapping attempt and save her uncle from his unjust death, it'd be worth the risk.

So Hinata sat on top of her futon with her legs folded neatly underneath her, motionless but fully alert, ready and waiting for anything.

oooOOOooo

But the enemy did not come that night. They did not come on the next one either. The tension was starting to drive Hinata to distraction, and it wasn't just the tension of anticipation. After two nights in a row without a second of actual sleep, Hinata's young body was under steadily increasing strain. During the most desperate times when she and Naruto had been on the run, she had been able to maintain this technique for just over four days at the most, but now after the second consecutive night she was struggling to retain her focus. The technique required her to slowly and constantly burn chakra to sustain her mind and body in lieu of actual rest, as well as constant concentration, and even if she minimised her physical activity she would deplete her reserves faster than she could recover. Unfortunately, she could not avoid her daily Jyuuken practice sessions with her family. She could have tried to feign illness to get out of them, but her father would simply have had the family doctor attend to her and there was no way she could have deceived him. While she did her best not to let on that anything was different, her attempts to minimise her activity to save her strength for any possible attack caused the crispness of her performance to slip slightly, earning her a frown from her father.

By the end of the third day, Hinata was at the end of her rope. Her hands were starting to shake and breathing was starting to become a chore, as if she were hiking at high altitudes. Despite her best efforts, she wasn't able to entirely keep the effects from showing. At dinner, her father gave her a concerned look as she laboriously transferred rice from her bowl to her mouth with trembling chopsticks. "Hinata, are you alright? You don't seem to be your usual self."

 _Damn it._ "Oh, n-no, Father," she hastily replied, "I'm fine. Just a little tired." Hiashi nodded, and despite not seeming entirely convinced said nothing else. After a few more seconds of eating in silence, Hinata dared a casual question. "Um, Father?" He looked at her again questioningly. "Um, those guests we had a few days ago? Do you know how much longer they're going to remain in Konoha?"

Hiashi raised a thin eyebrow. "In fact, Hinata, the Kumo delegation concluded talks with Hokage-sama yesterday and departed from Konoha this afternoon."

 _This afternoon?!_ Hinata nearly fumbled her chopsticks. "R- _really?"_ she squeaked, trying her level best not to sound as shocked as she felt and largely failing. "O-oh. So did their business with Hokage-sama go well?"

Her father placed his rice bowl down on his dinner tray and laid his chopsticks on top of it. "Indeed it did. The ambassador from Kumo and Hokage-sama worked out a treaty to lay the grounds for peaceful relations between our villages. Hopefully this will lead to a new era of security for Konoha."

On the other side of his brother, Hizashi chuckled. "Is Hinata-sama taking an active interest in village politics already, Brother? Most praiseworthy."

Hinata blushed at the praise, but her mind was racing. The Cloud delegation had already departed? So how were they planning to make their kidnapping attempt if they weren't even within the walls of the village? Is this what happened the first time around? She couldn't remember the circumstances of her kidnapping and doubted that she had even been aware of the presence of the foreign ninja in the village at all at the time.

She finished dinner practically on autopilot and her mind was still in turmoil as she bathed and retired to her room. Was it somehow possible that Kumo _weren't_ planning on attempting to kidnap her this time around? Had something changed the timestream to discourage them? Had one of her actions somehow subtly altered fate to discourage them? Was it even possible that she had not been sent back to her own past at all, but into an alternate timeline where Kumo had never had any ill intentions towards her in the first place? This was so confusing. She already had no idea what had happened to send her back here to her childhood, now this cast doubt on everything she even _thought_ she knew.

One thing was for certain, though: it was impossible for her to stay awake any longer. Even with her thoughts boiling in confusion, Hinata's head was clouded and heavy and her control of her chakra was slipping. Her body had reached its limit- she could barely maintain her technique any longer, and she was so worn-down that she knew the instant she released it she would pass out. Swaying on her feet, she fumbled in her drawer for her stack of alarm seals and managed to use the last drops of her available chakra to affix one to her window. Unable to stand it any longer, she stumbled over to her futon, crawled under the covers and, with a tired sigh, relaxed her control.

Blessed darkness swooped in on her almost instantly. Hinata's last conscious thought was a desperate wish that she hadn't made a fatal mistake.

oooOOOooo

 _Hinata carefully affixed the seal to the door where it met the frame, making sure her chakra had properly adhered the paper to the wood. Breathing a sigh of relief, she turned away from her work and went back to sit on the single bed set against the back wall of the room._

 _Naruto, sitting on the other side of the bed while he shuffled things around in his pack, glanced over at her. "We all secure, Hinata?"_

 _She smiled. "As secure as we can be, Naruto-kun." The room had no windows and very little furniture. The inn was cheap, but it had at least had a bath, and after two weeks on the run the pair of them had been desperate for better rest than a tent in the woods could provide. And if anything, Naruto had argued, Akatsuki would have more difficulty finding them blending in among a town of three thousand souls than alone in even the deepest forest in the world._

 _Naruto flipped closed the top of the bag, dropped it out of the way off the end of the bed, and swiveled to face her, crossing his legs and resting his hands on his knees. "OK then. So, do you think we should leave tomorrow, or should we bide our time here for a few days?"_

 _"Where do you think we should go?" she asked him. "It's still more than a week until Shikamaru-kun agreed to rendezvous with us." Shikamaru and Ino had set out to follow a lead that they'd hoped would lead to whatever facility or artefact their enemies were using to contain the essences of the eight tailed beasts they'd already captured, while Naruto and Hinata had led the pursuit in a different direction. Ino had been struggling to stay focused ever since Chouji's death, so soon after Sakura's, but Shikamaru had somehow been able to help her keep it together and driven to seek revenge._

 _Naruto shrugged wearily. "I dunno... if we don't have anywhere urgent to be then... I was thinking maybe we could drop by... Suna for a couple of days?"_

 _The suggestion surprised Hinata. "I... thought you said you didn't want to return there again while Akatsuki still had our trail?" she said carefully. They were still_ welcome _at Suna, despite the crippling injury Gaara had suffered the year before in the battle that had taken place there when Konan had collapsed a mountain on him, but Naruto had been so guilt-wracked by the incident that they'd departed as soon as possible once Akatsuki had been repelled and he'd resolved never to put anyone else in danger because of himself again. Their group hadn't been back there since._

 _Her lover sighed. "I... I know I did, but... we've given them the slip for now, haven't we?" He almost sounded like he was arguing with himself. "And... I was wonder how Gaara was getting on." He had kept the Kazekage updated on their progress through the occasional letter, but these had by necessity been terse and businesslike and there was obviously no way to receive any kind of reply correspondance from Gaara while they were living off the grid. "I..." he started again, then fell silent again, brooding._

 _Even someone who'd just met him would have been able to to tell that something was bothering Naruto, and by now Hinata knew him better than anyone else alive. Naruto had become increasingly moody over the last year, which was hardly surprising given what they'd been through. "I think it... would be good for you to meet with Gaara-san again," she suggested. "It would do you good to see a friend again. We've been alone on the road for too long." That was at the root of it, ultimately; he needed the cameraderie of his friends, a rare commodity after years of tragic losses and guerilla warfare. "But are you sure we've lost Akatsuki's pursuit?" She pulled her legs up onto the bed and folded them demurely beneath her, sliding across to sit closer to Naruto._

 _"Well..." Her lover shifted uncomfortably. "I'm pretty sure they don't know we're hiding in this town. Or even if they do, I'm pretty sure we can get out without them spotting us." He didn't sound entirely convinced. "So maybe we could make it to Suna in three days, stay for a night, then get to the rendezvous point with Shikamaru a day before the meeting time. And then..." He trailed off. "No..." he concluded sadly. "Like you said, I'm not_ certain _we've lost Akatsuki. And I can't take the chance of bringing them down on Suna again." He pulled his legs up against his chest and wrapped his arms around them morosely. "So maybe we should just stay here for a week?"_

 _Smiling ruefully, Hinata sidled up against him and her arm crept around his shoulders. "It'll be OK, Naruto-kun. I'm sure with this lead Shikamaru is chasing we'll be able to go on the offensive against Akatsuki again. Once we beat them then everything will be alright again." As her touch made him relax and let go of his legs again, she slid her other hand up his chest and placed it on his cheek, turning his head to face her. "And in the meantime, we can take advantage of the opportunity to spend some quality time together."_

 _Her lover smiled back at her, a mischievous twinkle appearing in his eye even as a small flush spread across his cheeks. "Yes, there is that," he whispered hoarsely, his blue eyes staring into hers from only a few inches away. Then he hesitated and his eyes flickered downwards. Hinata had realised by now that, as much as he obviously loved her, Naruto was still sometimes hesitant to make the first move, as if uncertain that he was doing the right thing or afraid of hurting her, so she leaned forward and kissed him tenderly on the mouth._

 _The touch of her lips against his was enough to galvanise Naruto into action and he eagerly embraced her, his arms wrapping around her waist and his hands crawling up her back, pulling her closer against him. Hinata hummed happily as their mouths eagerly tasted each other, enjoying the intimacy they rarely had the time or the energy for when they were on the run. Her hands ran up the back of his neck to his head, running her fingers through his short blond hair and he gave a low, animalistic growl in response, his tongue intruding into her mouth to coil against hers. Hinata turned as Naruto lowered her down onto the bed, leaning over her without interrupting their deep, passionate kiss. His wandering hand crept up her stomach and came to rest on her breast, heaving beneath her jacket. Hinata felt her pulse racing and she gasped into her lover's mouth as he gave her a brief, delicate squeeze before moving up to grasp the zipper, preparing to pull it down and give him unfettered access to her body._

 _Just as Naruto had the zipper down as far as the middle of her expansive cleavage, Hinata felt a strange warning tingle in the back of her mind, a familiar and disturbing presence nearby._

 _A thunderous, earth-shattering crack burst from the alarm seal as the door of their room burst inwards._

oooOOOooo

The detonation of the seal jolted Hinata awake from her dream, ears ringing. Despite her sleep-befuddled state, it only took her a few seconds to realise what was wrong- no matter how ear-splitting the sound, the ringing in her eardums shouldn't have followed her back to the waking world. Something had triggered the alarm seal she'd pasted over her window before she'd collapsed into her futon.

The realisation was like a red-hot poker applied to her brain and she jumped to her feet... or tried to. In actuality, the best she could manage was a spasmodic jerk of her arms and legs before her body simply refused to move any further, barely enough to shift the heavy weight of her blankets off her. Horrified, Hinata tried again, but only managed to half-roll over in her futon before collapsing back again.

This was the cost of nearly four days without sleep. The amount of chakra she'd burned would have seriously weakened her adult form; her child's body was effectively crippled. She was almost completely helpless.

No sooner had she completed the thought than the covers were torn back and rough hands seized her, dragging her from her bed.

 _It's him!_

The Kumo ambassador wrapped his arms tightly around Hinata's body, pinning her arms to her sides and clapping his hand over her mouth, then broke into a run, leaping through the shattered screen window of her room and out into the garden. Hinata could hear shouts of alarm being raised within the house as her kidnapper bounded over the outer wall into the dark streets of Konoha, breathing heavily. Whatever plan the man had been counting on was well and truly shot to ribbons now, his attempt to stealthily abduct her from her bed foiled by her alarm seal, but he still had her. From the start, Hinata had never been afraid of actually being abducted; her only fear was the fear was the fallout from the attempt's failure.

However, for the first time a creeping worry began to tug at the corner of her mind. Out of the corner of her eye she could see that her kidnapper's face was concealed behind a cloth mask that covered his entire head, but she could tell from the twitchy way he turned his head from side to side, as if expecting an attack to come from any direction at any second, that he was seriously shaken, if not panicking. With his plan busted so badly, there was a distinct possibility that desperation might drive him to take drastic action to escape, which might extend as far as hurting her.

Meaningless struggling would get her nowhere. Hinata hung limply, feigning unconsciousness as she tried to gather up what strength she could to be ready for the optimal time to act. Unfortunately, there wasn't much. Her chakra reserves were still almost completely drained and her body was still numb with fatigue. With another minute or two she'd be able to at least control her body a bit, but there was no way she'd be able to pull together enough chakra for any techniques, or even to activate her Byakugan, and if she forced the man into a straight fight she wouldn't last two seconds.

She would likely have, at most, precisely one chance to act, to try and disable her kidnapper before her father caught up with them and the tragedy of their family repeated itself once again.

The Kumo-nin ducked down a dark alley and took shelter in between a dumpster full of garbage and a stack of bamboo poles. He was breathing heavily, more from panic than fatigue, and Hinata could smell the stench of desperation radiating off him. "Damnation!" he muttered under his breath. "Why in all the hells was her window trapped like that? Damn it, I'm in deep shit now!" He held Hinata up in front of him and shook her. "You awake, brat?" Keeping her eyes closed, Hinata flopped loosely in his grip, playing possum. "OK then," he muttered and unexpectedly dropped her. Forcing herself to remain limp, Hinata couldn't help letting out a small gasp as she struck the dirty, hard-packed ground, banging her elbow painfully, but the man didn't notice. "Just in case, though..."

Hinata's white eyes cracked open again. Her kidnapper was kneeling down beside her, fiddling with a small object. Her breath caught in her throat as she was barely able to make it out through the darkness- a small syringe, undoubtedly loaded with enough sedative to knock her out for hours. He slipped the cover off the needle and raised it in his right hand, using his left to grab her roughly and turn her face-up.

Hinata held her breath a her enemy leaned in closer, bringing the needle up to her neck. The one chance she'd been banking on was here.

 _Now!_

Without her Byakugan and in the dark of the night alleyway, she only had blind guesswork and intuition to rely on. Mustering all of her strength and every drop of chakra she had into a single burst, Hinata drove her hand up towards the man- aiming not for his body, but the hand that held the syringe. Her instincts did not fail her. Her fingers struck precisely on the underside of his forearm at the exact same spot she'd struck her father during that first training session, sealing the chakra point there and sending a debilitating charge of her own chakra through his muscles.

The kidnapper recoiled with shock, the syringe falling from his nerveless fingers as the supposedly-unconscious girl lashed out at him. Within an instant, the shock had twisted into fury. "You... damned... little!" He swung his other hand viciously at her head and Hinata desperately rolled aside, groping on the ground as his fist brushed past her hair.

Her fingers closed around what she'd been searching for and, rolling closer to her opponent, Hinata jammed the syringe into his thigh, depressing the plunger with her thumb.

The Cloud ambassador roared in fury and kicked at her reflexively, causing the needle to snap off in his leg. Dropping the useless syringe, Hinata rolled with the impact, pushing herself up to her feet and dropping into her jyuuken stance. In the dark of the alley, her would-be kidnapper glared at her with unbridled anger. "You... little... _bitch!_ Do you really think you can beat _me_ that easily?!"

Hinata knew full well that the sedative would certainly _not_ be enough to incapacitate her opponent; it was a dose intended for a small child and she hadn't injected it into his body in anywhere _near_ the correct place. But a sudden surge of pitch-black loathing bubbled up inside her as she stared back at the man whose desire for the Byakugan had caused the death of her uncle and poisoned Neji's childhood. Without hesitating for a second more, she threw herself at him, hands raised to strike.

Too late she realised her mistake. Hinata's entire chakra system spasmed inside her and she stumbled, her vision blurring. She'd pushed herself too far.

Lunging towards her, the man grabbed her by the throat with his good hand and threw her violently back against the wall like a rag doll. Her skull cracked against the brick and she slumped to the ground in a boneless heap, a million stars exploding in her vision. As everything faded to black, she could just barely make out the dark shape of the Kumo-nin looming over her again- and another figure looming up behind him. The last thing she heard, as if from far, far away, was a familiar voice shouting what sounded like her name.

 _Father, no!_

TO BE CONTINUED...

###########

AFTERWORD:

Ooh, cliffhanger!

I had to use a lot of creativity to fill in the blanks surrounding this incident, concrete details about which were incredibly sparse in canon and were arguably retconned (or at least ignored) later in the series. For example, the man who tried to kidnap Hinata before being killed by Hiashi was originally just described as the "head ninja" of the Land of Clouds (but not, apparently, the Raikage), not even warranting a name. To be honest, Kishimoto's approach to world-building was always very slapdash and haphazard, and got even worse once he started retconning things left and right.

Surprisingly, this is the shortest chapter I've written in this fic to date. It was originally supposed to be longer, but I decided the denouement to this arc of the story would take longer than I could manage to wrap up within this chapter without making it the _longest_ chapter to date, so I shunted it all into chapter 6 instead.

NEXT TIME...

As Hinata struggles to deal with the fallout of the attempted kidnapping, she finds herself forced to reassess her position, her objectives, and her methods. Can she truly make any difference to the future, or is she only standing at the bottom of the waterfall of history, attempting to push back the torrential downpour with only her hands? Her dedication will be put to its sternest test yet in chapter 6 of For Love, **'Blood for Loyalty'.**

\- Arcane Azmadi, 2017


	6. Chapter 6 - Blood for Loyalty

FOR LOVE

 **Disclaimer:** A pizza without at least four toppings isn't worth your time.

###########

Chapter 6: Blood For Loyalty.

 _Hinata's eyes cracked painfully open. Her entire body ached from the brutal beating she'd taken and there was a burning pain on her abdomen where she'd been stabbed, but she was astonished to find herself alive. The ceiling above her head was unfamiliar, and she painfully turned her head to the side in an attempt to get her bearings._

 _The first thing she saw to her left made her heart skip a beat. Naruto was slumped in a chair beside the bed she was lying in, his elbows on his knees and his face buried in his hands. "Naruto-kun...?"_

 _At the sound of her whisper Naruto stirred, slowly raising his head and turning to look at her. His eyes were as wide as an owl's and his expression as he stared at her was strange, as if he didn't know whether to smile, cry, or blush and look away. It was if he was truly seeing her for the first time. "Hinata," he said hoarsely. "You..." He trailed off, and then he_ did _blush, his eyes flicking down to stare at the floor._

 _Hinata tried to collect her scattered thoughts. "What happened, Naruto-kun? What happened to Pain?"_

 _He forced himself to look back at her, and smiled, a little wanly but still with warmth. "Oh... it's all alright now, Hinata. We won. I beat Pain... thanks to your help."_

 _This time it was her turn to blush. "Oh... that's great, Naruto-kun!" she said, awkwardly. "But I really didn't do anything." Perhaps that was being a bit_ too _modest. She'd_ almost _managed to free Naruto from Pain's black rods, and had even landed a blow on him, but he'd been completely unphased and the last thing she'd seen before being smashed into unconsciousness by his gravity powers had been Naruto, still constrained and helpless on the ground. He must have broken free somehow after she'd passed out, so maybe her efforts had done some good after all?_

 _Naruto shook his head. "No, no, I... I couldn't have... if you hadn't..." He trailed off, seemingly struggling to express himself properly. Hinata tried to sit up in bed, but half-way up a bolt of agony shot through her body from her stomach to her back, right where she'd been impaled, and she dropped back with a small cry of pain. In an instant, so fast she didn't see him move, Naruto was right beside her, catching her with a supporting arm under her shoulders, gently helping her up to a sitting position. "Careful, Hinata!" he chided her, "Sakura-chan said you'll need a few days of bed rest at least. Don't overexert yourself."_

 _Feeling his strong arm wrapped around her, Hinata blushed- but for some reason, the paralysing rush of emotions that sometimes overcame her merely from being too close to Naruto was for once not so overhelming. In fact, she felt strangely at peace, even with the boy she loved so close to her that she could almost feel his breath on her face._

 _Glancing across at Naruto, she saw the blush deepening on his own face. An epiphany spread across her mind as she remembered her words from when she had stood between him and Pain._ "That's why I'm not afraid to die protecting you. Because I love you."

Oh. Of course. I already told Naruto-kun about my feelings for him. What is there left to be embarrassed about now?

 _Of course, no sooner had she completed the thought than the embarrassment came stampeding back again, stronger than ever. When she'd confessed her love to Naruto, she'd done so with the full expectation that she was going to die. Now that she was still alive, consequences that had seemed so meaningless at the time loomed in front of her and she flushed scarlet to her ears, suddenly intensely aware of every single point on her body where Naruto was touching her._

 _She opened her mouth to say something, but Naruto beat her to it. "Hinata." He seemed to have trouble meeting her eyes and uncertainty was audible in his voice. "Um... when you stood between Pain and me... you told me that... you said that..." He wriggled uncomfortably. "...you said... that you weren't afraid to die for me."_

 _Hinata nodded mutely. It felt like an immense pressure was bearing down on her, a feeling like she was at a major turning point on her life. Was Naruto going to...?_

 _"You said..." The boy struggled to speak. His fingers trembled on Hinata's arm. "You said that... you... loved me."_

Oh... my... _There was no avoiding it any longer. "N-Naruto... kun," she whispered, then swallowed nervously. His eyes met hers, and something inexplicable crackled in the air between them. There was an earnestness in his eyes, like a desperate need for validation, that sent a shock through her, filling her with a surge of courage. "I... I_ do _love you, Naruto-kun. I've_ always..." _She hesitated just long enough to get her thoughts in order. "Even when we were in the Academy as children I admired you. You always inspired me and gave me courage. And... when you came back from your training, I realised that... what I felt for you was really love."_

 _The blue eyes went wide. Even though this wasn't the first time he'd heard the words from her, Naruto looked utterly gobsmacked. Hinata didn't know whether he'd been expecting her to backpedal, claim she'd misspoken, or otherwise say she'd prefer to remain friends, but his expression was a revelation. A whirlpool of emotions played across his face- shock, excitement, confusion, delight, panic, uncertainty and amazed wonder. Slowly he reached out and took her unresisting hand in his own. She curled her fingers around his, feeling his warm skin trembling against hers. "Hinata, I..." he began unsteadily. "I... I was thinking about you said while you were asleep and... I don't really know if I even fully understand what love is_ really _all about." Hinata's heart sank a little in her chest, but she waited for him to finish. "But..." His voice caught in his throat and he coughed briefly to clear it. "But if you... if you think I'm good enough then... would you-" He squirmed for a second then plunged on. "-would you... like to be my g-girlfriend? And maybe then I can work it out?"_

 _"Yes!" The word rushed from Hinata's heart to her mouth without even needing to stop by her brain. Her body felt as light as air and all the aches left over from her battle with Pain seemed to have vanished in an instant. "I would gladly be your girlfriend, Naruto-kun. More than anything."_

 _Naruto's face slowly broke into a wide, guileless smile and he gave a soft, disbelieving laugh, as if he could barely believe what he had heard. Then he slowly leaned forward and wrapped his arms around Hinata's body, pulling her into a tight hug. His touch sent shivers through Hinata's body, but she was so happy that fainting wasn't even a possibility. She closed her eyes and embraced him back, trying to burn every aspect of this moment into her memory. Even the twinges of pain from residual injuries Naruto was accidentally putting pressure on felt good._

 _"Naruto, can I-OH!" Hinata's eyes snapped open, seeing Haruno Sakura recoiling back through the door, covering her mouth in shock. Naruto jerked away from her like she'd burst into flames, his face crimson. "Oh, I'm so sorry, I... I..." The pink-haired girl seemed so flustered she was lost for words, turning her head away to stare at a corner of the ceiling as she hesitantly reentered the room. "I-I-I'm sorry to... to, uh, interrupt you, but-" She took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down. "-I really need to talk with you, Naruto. Ur-" Her voice caught in her throat again. "Urgently."_

 _Naruto stood up awkwardly. "Erm, what is it, Sakura-chan? I thought you were looking after Granny Tsunade?" A vibrant note of hope crept into his voice. "Has she finally woken up?"_

 _The Hokage's apprentice shook her head, and Hinata was shocked to see tears beading at the corners of her green eyes. "N-no... Naruto, Tsunade-sama... she..." She swallowed. "She... I... I need to talk to you..." she repeated, her voice trembling. "I..." Shaking her head again, she turned and rushed from the room._

 _Naruto turned back to look at her, eyes wide with confusion and tinged with fear. "Uh... I'm sorry Hinata," he said. "I'll... I just need to..." His voice trailed off and he hurried from the room after his teammate._

 _Hinata was left alone in her recovery bed, a monumental sense of dread swelling within her._

oooOOOooo

Consciousness came creeping back slowly, _ever_ so slowly, and painfully. Hinata felt like she was swimming up through a sea of thick black mud, trying to claw her way out of the cloying darkness up into the light of life.

With a considerable effort Hinata fought down the throbbing in her head and forced her heavy eyes open. She found herself staring at the familiar ceiling of her room, the same as she had every morning during her childhood, although the light permeating in through her window made it obvious that it was _long_ past morning. She tried to rise, but if even opening her eyes had been a trial, moving her body proved to be an ordeal. She managed to get her head and one shoulder half-up off her futon, before her strength gave out and she slumped back again, a bolt of pain flashing through her skull as it impacted on even the softness of her thin pillow.

She tried to call for someone, but the most her dry throat was able to manage was a sort of strangled croak. She tried again and was able to send up a soft moan. Closing her eyes in frustration, she took several deep breaths and tried to moisten her throat to make another attempt, when she heard the door of her room slide open. Turning her head, she saw the welcome figure of Hyuuga Chizuru bustling over to kneel beside her bed.

The old woman reached out with a wrinkled hand to gently stroke Hinata's forehead. "Hinata-sama, I'm so glad you've finally woken up. Everyone has been so worried about you."

"Ch-Chizuru-san," Hinata croaked. "I... h-how long have I been asleep?"

"Three days, Hinata-sama," Chizuru answered quietly. "You had a nasty concussion, among other things." That explained the pulsing pain in her skull. Mustering her rapidly-recovering strength, Hinata managed to drag her arm out from under her blankets and gingerly touched the back off her head where her kidnapper had brutally bashed it against the wall. Her fingers brused against a bandage that had been wrapped around her head and she shuddered. She was lucky to not have received a cracked skull.

"How are you feeling, Hinata-sama?" the old nursemaid asked her.

"Tired," she admitted, "and sore. But I'll be alright soon." Indeed, she could feel that her chakra reserves, small as they were, had largely replenished themselves since she'd been struck down by chakra exhaustion during the fight, and her body was responding more to her commands with every passing minute.

Chizuru sat back, looking relieved. "Oh that's so good to hear! I'm sure your father will be pleased to hear you're doing well. I'll go and let him know, and I'm sure he'll come to see you as soon as he can."

Mention of her father was like a bucket of cold water being poured over her. Hinata gasped and tried to sit up, making it most of the way upright before slumping backwards. Startled, Chizuru lunged forward and caught her, supporting her with an arm behind her back, much like Naruto once had. Wide-eyed, she looked up into the old woman's face and asked "Chizuru-san... what happened? What happened to the man that attacked me? Is my father... is Uncle Hizashi alright?"

Chizuru's eyes went as wide as Hinata's. "Hi-Hizashi-san...? Why... how did you..." She went pale and rose to her feet. "I-I'd better go and let your father know you're awake. I think he'd rather tell you himself."

"Chizuru-san!"

"Excuse me, Hinata-sama." The old woman bowed frantically and turned to leave- but as she did, Hinata caught a glimpse of what looked like a tear forming in the corner of one of her eyes.

As the screen door slid shut behind Chizuru, Hinata sank back down onto her futon, horrified dread building up within her.

 _Oh no... Father... Uncle Hizashi... Neji-niisan..._

oooOOOooo

It was after only a few minutes of stewing in her dread that her father quietly entered her room, carrying a small tray with a cup on it, and knelt down beside her futon, placing the tray beside him. Hinata stared up at him with a swirl of mixed feelings. While she'd been waiting for him she'd worked out how she should act and braced herself for the worst, but she had a sick feeling twisting in the pit of her stomach, which wasn't just hunger from not having eaten in over two days.

Her father looked down on her with concern visible on his normally stern face. It seemed to Hinata that there were extra lines in her father's features that had not been present the last time she'd seen him. Without a word he helped her sit up in her bed and silently offered her the cup, which was filled with cool water. Gratefully she sipped it, feeling it soothe her burning throat, and once she'd had enough her father placed it back on the tray again. "How are you, Hinata?" he finally asked her, his voice gentle.

She licked her freshly-moistened lips. "I... I'm alright, Father," she said. "W-what happened?"

Hiashi's face darkened with restrained anger. "The ambassador from the Hidden Cloud attempted to kidnap you. You were knocked out during the attempt, but the doctor said you will be alright. You're safe now, he can't hurt you any more."

He was being deliberately vague, and Hinata had a horrible feeling she knew why. "Father..." She had to know. "What happened to him."

Her father looked more uncomfortable than she'd ever seen him before in her life. "He's... he's dead, Hinata. You don't have to worry about him again."

Her heart froze. _Oh... oh no..._ "Father," she said, her voice trembling, "is everyone alright? N-nobody else was hurt... were they?"

A look of anguish raced across Hyuuga Hiashi's face, a display of emotion from him that she'd only seen before when her mother had died, and in that instant Hinata knew. She'd failed. A wave of dizziness struck her, despair accentuating the lingering effects of her concussion, and she slumped back onto her futon, tears stinging her eyes. As her father leaned over her in concern, she choked back a sob, covering her face with her hands. _Oh Father... I know it was Uncle Hizashi's own choice to die to save your life, but still, how could you allow that to happen to your own brother? I even warned you about what would happen if you killed my kidnapper. Maybe you didn't believe in my 'dream', but why didn't you at least hesitate?_

"Hinata." The Hyuuga family head seemed lost, hesitantly placing his broad hand on his daughter's forehead like she was something fragile, awkwardly stroking her hair. "I'm... sorry. Your uncle Hizashi... is dead." His voice choked off briefly and he covered his face with his free hand until he could compose himself, his fingers trembling on Hinata's brow. "The man who tried to kidnap you was... the head of the Cloud delegation, and they demanded blood to pay for his death."

The pointlessness, the _unfairness_ of it all bored into Hinata's heart like a drill. Even the knowledge that her uncle had chosen his own fate didn't change the cruelty of it. "But... Father..." she quavered. "Why did Uncle Hizashi have to die?"

Her father covered his eyes again, his grief becoming harder to contain with every second. "Forgive me, Hinata. It was my own weakness that was responsible for my brother's death." Hinata had long been aware of her father's guilt over his twin replacing him in order to keep the Byakugan out of Kumo's hands. Neji had eventually forgiven him for the loss of his father, but Hinata had always felt guilty that she had gotten to grow up with her father alive just because she had been born into the main family and he into the branch. She closed her eyes as a tear trickled down the side of her face.

"I should have been the one to save you when you were in danger, but it was Hizashi who caught up with you first. Forgive me for failing you."

 _What?_

Hinata opened her eyes and stared up at her father in shock. "F-Father...?" she said plaintively. "I-I thought _you_ were the one who saved me?" Her mind raced, but only managed to spin in circles, like a dog chasing its tail.

Hiashi shook his head regretfully. "When that... explosion went off, Hizashi had already discovered you were missing from your room and gone after you before I arrived. By the time I caught up with him, he'd already killed your attacker and was carrying you back here." Her father looked utterly miserable, but also frustrated- and the frustration was directed at himself. "I should have been faster. Hizashi may have known it was his duty to protect the main family, but it should be _my_ duty to protect you and your sister."

Hinata's mouth hung open. She tried to think back to her fight against the Cloud kidnapper, to remember how it had ended, but her memories were hazy, lost in an obscuring cloud of darkness and lingering pain. But if her father was telling her the truth (and she could tell he wasn't lying), it had not been him but her uncle who had rescued her- and he had died, not voluntarily sacrificing himself to save his brother's life, but as the punishment, justified or not, for his actions while saving her.

This meant that, even moreso than before, Hyuuga Hizashi's death was _her_ fault.

oooOOOooo

Even though his body had been claimed by the Cloud delegation (for all the good it would do them), a memorial service was held for Hyuuga Hizashi the next day. While the details surrounding his death had largely been suppressed outside the Hyuuga clan and Konoha's top leadership, Hizashi would be remembered as a hero to the Hyuuga family, who had saved the Byakugan from falling into hostile hands by rescuing the clan heir, then prevented a war by freely accepting death as the price of his actions.

This was little consolation to Hinata. Already well enough to be able to attend, she stood on her father's left side, holding his hand, with her head bowed in mourning. She couldn't even look at him, because whenever she did she couldn't help but see Neji similarly standing to her father's right. Normally in formal clan assemblies like this he would be standing beside his own father, who would be protectively shadowing the clan leader, a single step behind his twin brother, but for this occasion his uncle had brought him to the front to stand right beside him, resting a steady hand on his orphaned nephew's shoulder.

The young boy's face was unsurprisingly sad as the memorial service to his father proceeded, but it was a calm, stoic sadness. A slight trace of redness around his guileless white eyes was the only sign that he had been crying, and Hinata had heard more than one murmured comment from the gathering behind them praising her cousin's dignity and self-control in the face of his loss, especially at so young an age. But Neji's control over his grief did nothing to assuage Hinata's guilt.

She should have prepared better. She should have fought harder. She should have worked out what her kidnapper had been planning and saved her strength for the confrontation instead of pointlessly burning her chakra in aimless paranoia and leaving herself vulnerable.

She should have done _something_ differently.

Once the service was over, Hinata filed out of the hall with the rest of the clan, a step behind her father with Neji walking silently beside her. Hiashi dismissed the entire clan to return to their duties for the rest of the day before retiring to his study to attend to matters of clan management, probably complicated further by the loss of his brother and right hand. Chizuru passed her by, leading a bewildered Hanabi back to her room for a nap, giving her a sympathetic nod in passing. Hinata was left standing forlornly with her now-orphaned cousin, forgotten and alone.

Screwing her eyes tightly closed, Hinata took a deep breath and plucked up her courage before turning to Neji. Their matching Byakugan eyes met and Hinata flinched. She could clearly see the pain her cousin was trying to hide behind his calm exterior, the confusion over his father's needless death, and even the faint traces of bitterness that she'd known would be there, that _his_ father had been the one who had to die to save _her_ life. She didn't begrudge him these feelings for a second, even as he tried his best to suppress them; at the moment her own self-loathing for her failure was such that she freely invited his resentment as her just due.

"Ne-" Her words caught in her dry throat and she swallowed. "Neji-niisan. I... I'm so... so sorry about what happened to your father. It was-" She almost choked on her words, but gritted her teeth and forced them out. "It was my fault. Uncle Hizashi saved my life and he... he died because of it. I... don't expect you to forgive me, but... but I-"

"Hinata-sama." Neji cut her off, his voice quiet but firm. "I... I know what happened to my father. He spoke to me one more time before he went to his death and told me why it had to happen. He... told me..." He hesitated, thinking. "...a lot of things," he finished. "And... it's alright, Hinata-sama. It was his fate to lay down his life to protect you."

 _Fate!_ Hinata flinched at Neji's declaration, groaning internally. This was an aspect of the situation she'd forgotten about. Neji's fatalistic belief in the immutability of fate had been instilled in him by his father's death in her last life as well, giving him an unshakable belief that one's life and death were predestined and that people were incapable of changing. Even if he had accepted his father's death more readily this time rather than resenting the main family for sacrificing him to protect Hiashi, this belief had been a heavy burden on her cousin that had constrained him for years, until Naruto had eventually beaten it out of him on the sands of the arena during the finals of the Chuunin Exams.

Owing to the lingering injuries inflicted on her weeks earlier by Neji himself, Hinata had never witnessed the conclusion of that battle, or been present for Neji's enlightenment when her father had told him the truth about Hizashi's death. As a result, she only had a vague idea of what had been said to him to change his beliefs, leaving her with even less idea of what she should say here. "Um..." he began hesitantly, "...I don't understand about 'fate', Neji-niisan. But..." She trailed off hopelessly.

When she thought about it, there wasn't really much in this situation she could even base a counterargument on. Hizashi hadn't died by his own choice, as he had before. How could she claim with certainty that this _hadn't_ been his fate, especially when she'd done everything she could think of to prevent it and failed? Just as she'd tried to prevent Neji's branding and failed at that too.

People could change, that was without doubt. Naruto had proved that years ago.

But was it actually possible that, all along, everyone _was_ in fact shackled by an inescapable fate?

Was everything she was doing ultimately going to be for nothing...?

"Um, Hinata-sama?" Neji's voice cut across her horrified thoughts, almost making her jump. "Before he... died, my father told me that... it was his fate and his duty to die in defence of the main family and it was... not something to fear or regret." He fidgeted awkwardly for a second, then stepped towards her, reaching into his pocket. "And also... he gave me this. To give to you." His hand emerged, holding a small scroll which he held out to her.

Hinata stared at it for several long seconds before hesitantly stretching her hand out and taking it from her cousin. Unrolling it with trembling fingers, she saw it was a letter addressed to her.

 _Hinata_

 _By the time you read this letter, I will already be gone. I will not tell you that you shouldn't mourn for me, but please do not hold yourself responsible for my death. I have a duty to the Hyuuga clan, but also to my family. Given another chance, I would do the same thing again._

 _After my death, I entrust the care of my son Neji to my brother Hiashi. However, one day you will eventually succeed your father as the leader of the Hyuuga. When this time comes, I ask you for only one thing. Neji knows his duty to the clan and to you as well as I do. It may be that one day he will be called upon to lay down his life for you, as I have._

A lump choked Hinata's throat and tears beaded at the corner of her eyes, forcing her to stop reading. Neji had indeed sacrificed himself for her and Naruto in the future, knowing full well that Akatsuki would kill him and his lover Tenten if the two of them split off from the others to lead them away. But he had refused to let her dissuade him from going through with it, and Tenten had refused to let him go alone. She hadn't heard many details about their deaths, only that their last stand against Hoshigaki Kisame had laid waste to a considerable swathe of land on the border of the Land of Waves. She wiped her eyes and read on.

 _But just as we of the branch family are fated to give our lives in the service of the main family, you are fated to be protected by us and carry on for the greater good of the Hyuuga clan._

 _I confess that I once doubted that you had the strength necessary to lead the Hyuuga clan once you succeed my brother, and resented the fact that my Neji would only ever be your subordinate despite his talent. However, in the last few days you have revealed your true potential and I am sorry I doubted you. I am sure you will be a strong leader once you are grown and the clan will be in good hands._

 _While I am sure you as leader will sometimes be forced to make hard choices that will result in the deaths of your subordinates, my last request is only that, as leader, you show the same compassion and love towards the clan as you did when you tried to spare Neji from the Caged Bird Seal. A leader needs to not only be strong, but also to care about their people, or the clan will not flourish, and I truly believe that you have both strength and compassion enough to protect everyone. My hope is that I can entrust Neji to you, that he will protect you and in turn you will protect-_

The words on the scroll blurred into an illegible mess as the tide of tears completely obscured Hinata's vision. Her heart ached as she sobbed helplessly, salt water spilling from her eyes to stain the parchment hanging from her limp hands. Neji looked on helplessly as his little cousin wept for her dead uncle, uncertain of what, if anything, he should do. Nervously he stretched out a hand towards her trembling shoulder. "Um, Hinata-sama...?"

Desperately choking back sobs, Hinata looked up at him, tears flooding down her pale cheeks and he started to awkwardly pat her on the back. Overwhelmed, she turned towards him and wrapped her arms around him as tightly as she could, burying her face in his neck. Neji's body went rigid, his face flushing scarlet as his cousin hugged him. The Hyuuga clan were, as a rule, very hands-off and displays of physical affection were rare, even frowned-upon, but Hinata didn't care. "I promise, I will look after you, Neji-niisan," she whispered. "I promise."

Neji's stiff body slowly untensed and his brow furrowed in confusion. "Uh... Hinata-sama, isn't that... backwards? I told my father that _I'd_ protect _you_ as he wanted me to and..." His voice stumbled a bit. "...as, as he... protected you." Looking around nervously to make sure nobody else was watching, he gingerly put his arms around his cousin and returned the hug. "You shouldn't be the one protecting me."

Hinata smiled, stepping back from the embrace and looking Neji straight in the eye. "There's nothing wrong with that, Neji-niisan. You can look after me, and I can look after you. That way, we can _both_ make your father proud."

Her words made Neji return her smile with a rare one of his own. "That... sounds fair, Hinata-sama." He looked around as Hinata retrieved the dropped scroll. "Would you... like to go and train for a bit?"

"Just a moment, Neji-niisan." Finding where she'd been forced to stop, Hinata quickly finished reading her dead uncle's last testament. _...in turn you will protect him, so that together you will lead the Hyuuga clan to a better age. I believe in you, Hinata. You will make my death worthwhile._

 _Hyuuga Hizashi._

Looking up at Neji as she neatly rolled up the scroll, fighting back the tears beading in the corners of her eyes again, she nodded. "I think that's a great idea, Neji-niisan. Let's do our best to get stronger."

The two of tem had just reached the doors of the dojo when a voice stopped them in their tracks.

"Your pardon, Hinata-sama."

She jumped slightly as Ko's voice suddenly spoke up behind her. She turned to face her bodyguard, curious as to what he might want with her. "Yes Ko-san?"

Ko coughed awkwardly, his eyes on the ground between them. "Hiashi-sama wants to see you. Immediately."

Hinata felt a twinge of foreboding in her heart.

oooOOOooo

Hinata's mind was racing as she announced her presence outside her father's study. She should have been expecting and preparing for this ever since she woke up. Even though she had failed to prevent her uncle's death, she should have known there would still be consequences stemming from the actions she'd taken in the attempt.

She was kneeling out there for an uncomfortably long time before her father finally called her in. Her heart hammering in her chest, she entered the room. Rather than sitting at his desk, Hiashi was already kneeling on a _zabuton_ in the center of the room, waiting for her. Studiously keeping her nervousness from showing on her face, she crossed to take her place on the cushion opposite him and waited for him to speak.

The silence was just about to become uncomfortable when her father spoke. "How are you feeling, Hinata?"

The girl blinked in surprise. That had not been how she'd been anticipating this conversation would begin. "Um... I'm fine, Father. I was about to do some training with Neji-niisan when Ko-san found me."

Her father nodded approvingly. "I see. I'm glad to see you are not allowing your uncle's death to restrain you for too long. I was worried about you yesterday. You understand, I hope, that a measure of grief is appropriate, but you were not responsible for Hizashi's death?"

Hinata nodded. "Yes, Father. Uncle Hizashi left me a letter for me that explained it. I understand."

For a brief moment a pained look flickered across her father's face as the raw grief inside broke the surface of his iron self-control, but then it was gone again in an instant. "Yes, he told me what he'd written for you before he died. I'm glad it was able to help you." He took a deep breath. "However, Hinata, there is something else I need you to tell me about." Leaning forward, he placed something on the tatami between them. "Where did this come from?"

It was a torn paper seal.

Hinata's stomach lurched. She'd prayed that nobody had searched her room after her kidnapping, but had been aware that this was a risk she'd been taking as soon as she'd decided to use the alarm seals. She'd been trying to come up with an explanation for if they were found, but hadn't managed to come up with a satisfyingly plausible one in time- and put on the spot like this, she didn't have a clue. Her mind blank, she just stared at the shredded paper dumbly.

Her father watched her for several seconds before speaking again. "This was the source of the loud detonation that alerted us to the intruder. As its only purpose was to release sound when triggered, it could not have belonged to the Cloud ambassador. Nobody we have asked in the clan has seen it before, or knows where it came from. Do you know?"

Her tongue felt like lead and her brain scrambled for an explanation that was not forthcoming. Hiashi didn't wait for her to come up with one. "Hinata, about a week ago you came to me to tell me about a dream you'd had where you were kidnapped by an important ninja from another village and I was executed after I rescued you. Then only days later you are kidnapped by an important ninja from Kumo and my twin brother is executed after he rescued you." He frowned. "I'm sure I don't need to explain how _unusual_ that coincidence is. Did you truly see that in a dream?" He paused. Hinata said nothing. "Did someone warn you that the Cloud ambassador was going to kidnap you? Did you make this seal yourself or did they provide you with it? Why would you not tell me about them?" Still no answer. "What are you not telling me, Hinata?"

Hinata's mind was completely paralysed. _Is this it? Is it time to come clean with the whole truth? Do I even have any other way out of this?_ Her guts were twisting themselves into knots in her belly.

"Hinata?" her father prompted her, more forcefully.

Finally, she opened her mouth. "Nobody warned me, Father," she said. "I..." She hesitated for a moment, then just decided to go for it as the outline of a plan began to form in her mind. "It was... the dream I told you about. It was just so... so real that I couldn't get it out of my mind. And when I... saw the ambassador arriving the other day I knew he was the same man from my dream... I was so scared. So I..." She bit her lip. "I... made that seal just in case. I..." She trailed off as she realised she still didn't have an explanation for how she would have had the knowledge to make such a thing. Where could a child possibly have come up with the knowledge to create such a tool?

Just when the silence was becoming so drawn-out that it seemed her father was going to interrupt, she had a sudden flash of inspiration. "Naruto-kun showed it to me!" she blurted out. "He... he told me he was working on making it to use for a prank and drew the seal on the ground to show it to me. He said it would make a loud noise that would scare someone when set off, so I thought I could use it as a warning." She mentally apologised to Naruto for lying about him like this, but it sounded plausible at least. Nobody paid any attention to what Naruto was doing except when he was getting up to mischief, and if questioned about it he'd be expected to deny everything anyway. He might even get a bit of an early reputation as a minor child prodigy from this.

As she spoke, an incredulous expression swept across Hiashi's face. "You... Hinata, you really did... are you telling me you dreamed... of the future?" The white eyes narrowed again. "Is this really true, Hinata? Can you swear to me-wait!" Her father folded his fingers in front of him and the veins around his eyes bulged out as his Byakugan focused on her like a pearl-eyed hawk. "Swear to me that this is the truth."

With monumental effort, Hinata kept herself from swallowing nervously and carefully restrained her heart rate. Right now, her father was observing every minuscule movement she made, every tiny tell that would give away any lies. She had never been especially gifted in the ways of deception and, even aside from how much he intimidated her, her father was the most powerful and talented member of the Hyuuga clan. Lying directly to his face about such a monumental matter while he was specifically using his Byakugan to monitor her would be completely impossible for any child, or even most veteran ninja.

But she wasn't just any child. She wasn't just any veteran ninja either. For all her failings, she knew everything there was to know about her family's bloodline. And she'd spent years mastering the discipline and self-control necessary to survive while being pursued by a group of the most dangerous shinobi in the world. Often her very life, as well as those of her friends, had depended on it.

It was time she acted like it. And if this didn't work, then there was only the truth.

"Yes, Father," she lied calmly, her voice utterly level as she stared directly into his gleaming Byakugan eyes. "I swear. I saw the Cloud ambassador attempting to kidnap me in a dream. At the time I must have mistaken Uncle Hizashi for you when he rescued me." She lowered her eyes. "I'm sorry, Father. I should have told you when I first recognised the ambassador. If I had, maybe Uncle Hizashi would still be alive."

Her father did not answer. Hiashi deactivated his Byakugan again and closed his eyes, seemingly deep in thought. Hinata did not dare interrupt him and sat silently on the _zabuton_ , patiently waiting for him to reach a conclusion. A minute went by, then another, with neither Hyuuga moving. Then Hiashi opened his eyes again and stared hard at his daughter. "Very well then, Hinata." He rose smoothly to his feet. "Come with me."

Unquestioningly, Hinata followed her father from the room. To her surprise, he led her to the entrance hall of the Hyuuga manor and began to put on his sandals, prompting her to follow his example. But when he slid the front door open and stepped outside, she couldn't contain her curiosity any further. "Father, where are we going?"

Without looking back at her, Hyuuga Hiashi strode towards the front gate of the clan's compound. "I'm taking you to see Hokage-sama."

oooOOOooo

Sarutobi Hiruzen sat back in his chair and took a long, thoughtful draw on his pipe. His expression was kindly as he gazed at Hinata, but his eyes studied her keenly, an intelligence and wisdom undulled by his advanced years shining within them. Her father stood behind her, one hand resting gently on her shoulder in a manner half-comforting and half-steadying.

Taking one final puff, the Hokage spun the pipe around and tapped it against the edge of his ashtray, dumping the burned-out tobacco ash in with the rest. "That's certainly a fascinating story, Hiashi-san," he observed mildly. Hinata found it strangely fascinating to hear someone address her father with an honourific other than "-sama", but there was no authority in Konoha higher than the God of Shinobi. "You say she told you about this dream five days before the Cloud ambassador made his move? The day before their delegation even arrived?"

"That is correct, Hokage-sama," Hiashi answered. "Hinata came to me in quite a state, describing that vivid dream to me. If we allow that she mistook my late brother for myself, the similarities to what actually happened are eerie."

"Certainly noteworthy," the Hokage agreed. "Too much to be a mere coincidence." He refocused his gaze on Hinata's face again and she squirmed uncomfortably. Unlike Naruto, she'd never spent much time in the presence of the Third Hokage during her first life except for the times he had been present while Team 8 had been receiving their first few missions in the months before the Chuunin Exam. While she knew him to be a kind man, having to deal with him like this was still nerve-wracking. If he questioned her too closely then deceiving him would be as hard as, if not harder than, lying to her father.

"Hinata-chan?" Sarutobi suddenly addressed her. Hinata steeled herself. "Tell me, this dream you had. Was it a completely clear and realistic dream, where you saw exactly what happened? Or was it more vague and abstract?"

That was a tough question. Hinata pondered what answer she should give for several seconds while the Hokage and her father waited patiently. What story would give her the best blend of credibility and flexibility going forward? "Um, it was... it was partly real and... partly, well, dreamlike. Things happened in a... disjointed way, like being shown different pages in a picture book one at a time, so I didn't see everything, but... I saw Father -well, I saw Uncle Hizashi I guess- saving me, even though I didn't see what actually happened when, when it... happened." She licked her lips, mind racing to keep up. "The... the man who kidnapped me... in my dream I saw his face, even though he was wearing a mask that night, so I knew it was him when I saw him arrive at Konoha. He was surrounded by... by dark clouds that floated around his body everywhere. And after... after Uncle Hizashi was killed, I didn't... didn't really see the people who blamed me for his death, I just... heard voices coming from faces that floated around me."

The Hokage nodded gravely. "And has anyone blamed you for what happened?" he asked gently.

Hinata shook her head. "No, Hokage-sama. I... blamed myself at first, but Uncle Hizashi left me a letter imploring me not to do so, although..." She squirmed uncomfortably. "...I still do feel at least a bit responsible."

"That makes sense, then," the old ninja observed. "It sounds like your dream was conveying what was going to happen to you through a filter of your own consciousness, and the voices you heard blaming you were just reflections of your own guilt." Picking up his pipe again, the Hokage reached into his drawer and began packing a small amount of fresh tobacco into the bowl. "Well, I can't say I've encountered anything _exactly_ like this before," he said as he flicked a match out of a nearby book and struck it on the edge of his desk, "but there's a first time for everything. And I did once hear about a shinobi from Suna who supposedly had such strong experiences of _deja vu_ that he was able to train and control them until he could sometimes predict his opponents' moves before they could make them. So your... gift, I suppose, is not the most unlikely thing I've ever heard of, Hinata-chan."

"Hokaga-sama?" her father suddenly put in, his voice tinged with incredulity. "You mean you believe my daughter can... see the future in her dreams?"

The Hokage raised a bushy white eyebrow. "Didn't you believe so yourself, Hiashi-san?" Sarutobi asked him bemusedly. "I thought that was why you brought her to me?" Hiashi's face coloured slightly and the Hokage inhaled a draught from his freshly-relit pipe. "Yes, for the moment I _do_ believe that Hinata-chan is potentially capable of at least some measure of foresight. It sounds like her dreams might require some measure of interpretation, but-" The Hokage's voice took on a gentler tone. "-if she lets us know the next time she has a particularly vivid dream like this, we _may_ just be able to avoid another tragedy like the one that cost us your honoured brother."

A mix of expressions crossed the Hyuuga clan leader's face- intrigue, sadness, bewilderment, even a flash of pride. Hinata's heart leaped as she processed the Hokage's words. This was looking like the best result she could have hoped for!

The Hokage rested his pipe down in the ashtray again, rose from his chair and strode around the vast desk to stand before her, then crouched down so his head, topped by his broad conical hat, was level with hers. "Hinata-chan?" Sarutobi Hiruzen said, taking one of her hands gently in his. "Whenever you have a particularly vivid or strange dream like that again, let your father know at once and he'll bring you to me. Or if you're old enough, come to me yourself. I want to hear about it. Just promise me that you won't tell anybody else about this. It has to be kept a _special_ secret. Alright?"

She smiled shyly back at him and nodded, her heart secretly singing with delight. "Alright, Hokage-sama. I promise."

The old shinobi's wrinkled face beamed at her. "That's a good girl, Hinata-chan." Standing up again, he looked back at her father. "Thank you for bringing this to my attention, Hiashi-san. While anything your daughter sees in her dreams will need to be carefully considered before we act on it, the potential of these portents is too great for us to not follow up on them." Returning to his chair, he picked up his pipe again and toyed with it absently. "Maybe she will only dream of matters relevant to her and your family specifically. Maybe she will dream of matters that will affect all of Konoha itself. Possibly she will even see portents of worldwide significance. Regardless, until we understand this... new power of hers, we should keep an open mind."

That seemed to be the end of it. Hiashi acknowledged his leader's instructions and both he and Hinata bowed before heading for the office door. Just as her father pulled it open, the Hokage suddenly spoke up again behind them. "Oh, and Hinata-chan?" She looked back at him questioningly. The old man smiled at her again. "Let Naruto know that I'll drop in and see him again soon."

Hinata blinked in surprise and glanced up at her father. Hiashi's face was a picture of astonishment. She looked back at the Hokage and bowed again. "Certainly Hokage-sama. I will tell Naruto-kun when I see him next."

Sarutobi dismissed them with a nod and picked up his pipe. As she and her father returned home again, Hinata tried her best to suppress her smile.

oooOOOooo

Hinata found herself in a very strange mood as she walked down the road, Chizuru holding her by her left hand, with Neji walking at the old woman's other side and a moody Hyuuga Ko bringing up the rear. On the way back to the Hyuuga compound from the Hokage's tower she'd been so elated at the outcome of her meeting with the Hokage that she'd almost felt like skipping. No less than Sarutobi Hiruzen himself believed in her foreknowledge of future events and had made it clear that he would be willing to act, or at least consider action, based on what she told him.

While it bothered her somewhat to lie to both her Hokage and her father about the source of her knowledge, it wasn't like she would be making up the warnings she would be able to give them out of nothing. And maybe once she'd managed to effect a few major changes with her foresight, and had reached the right age, she'd eventually be able to confess her deception, beg for their forgiveness, and tell them everything about the world she'd come from and had been fighting to prevent from coming to pass again.

Regardless of her misgivings about her deceptions, her first real progress towards foiling Akatsuki and saving Konoha had left her feeling buoyant as she'd followed her father through the gates of their home. The feeling remained until they'd finished removing their sandals, when her father turned to her and said "Hinata, go and find Neji. It's time for your jyuuken lesson." The sudden reminder of the events from earlier in the day hit her like being slapped with a water-soaked blanket, compounded by shame at so easily forgetting her uncle's death.

Thanks to the attention of the clan's medic-nin Hinata had already almost completely recovered from her concussion and was in sufficient shape for training. The lesson had been shortened by necessity, as much of the day had already passed between Hizashi's memorial service and the visit to the Hokage. Hiashi had run both of them through their jyuuken form drills, nodding in appreciation of their crisp performance of their strikes and defences, then had given then further instruction in refining the projection of their chakra through the tenketsu on their palms to damage their target's body. There was absolutely nothing Hinata had left to learn about this, but just spending time with her father and Neji like this, being able to finally live up to her father's expectations and receive his (admittedly still sparing) praise was a joy she could never take for granted any more.

After they had been dismissed, Hiashi had (reluctantly) agreed to allow Hinata to go out into Konoha to play. While he was unsurprisingly leery about letting his daughter leave the Hyuuga family compound so soon after the attempted kidnapping, he eventually conceded that Kumo would not _dare_ to show their faces in Konoha again, at least not in the immediate future. Hinata had also begged for Neji to be allowed to come along, and Hiashi agreed it would do him good in light of his father's death. So with Chizuru sent along to mind then and Ko assigned to watch over them just in case, the four of them set out into the village.

Hinata knew exactly what she was looking for and where it would likely be found, although she didn't openly share this knowledge with her companions. Naruto wasn't at the park where she'd met him the other day, nor was he down by the riverbank where he would often hang out to watch the afternoon sun. Hinata led her increasingly-perplexed little group down the main street of Konoha and past the shops before she finally found him. The blond-haired little boy was sitting alone on a bench at the far corner of a playground that was full of children of similar age, who were playing with each other and their families. Naruto sullenly watched them with undisguised longing and envy in his sad eyes, like a starving man at a banquet, flinching when he saw a mother shoot him a venomous look.

Smiling, Hinata trotted across the park towards him, Neji and her escort trailing behind her. When Naruto saw her, the miserable expression on his face briefly morphed into one of incredulous bafflement, as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing, before exploding into a radiant, delighted grin. "Hello, Naruto-kun!" she called out, giving him a small wave.

He bounded up from the bench and _ran_ across the playground to meet her, ignoring the incredulous stares of every adult and most of the other children present. _"Hinata-chan!"_ he yelled excitedly. He was just about to crash enthusiastically into her when he pulled up short, staring nervously over Hinata's shoulder. "Eh... it's good to see you again, Hinata-chan." Glancing backwards, she saw Ko's disapproving glare fixed on the boy, like a wall of fire between Naruto and her.

Scowling internally but keeping her smile on her face, Hinata pointedly stepped forward through the invisible wall and wrapped the startled Naruto in a hug. The boy went rigid in her arms, much like Neji had earlier that morning, and a number of disapproving mutters went up from the assembled adults, as well as a strangled choking sound from Ko behind her, but Hinata didn't care. "It's good to see you too, Naruto-kun," she murmured to him. He smelled mainly of dirt and the faint but unmistakable odour of negi miso ramen, but that didn't bother her. He may not be _her_ Naruto, the one who'd been her inspiration, her strength, and her lover, but he was Uzumaki Naruto nonetheless, and always would be.

She released the embrace and stepped back. Naruto was still as stiff as a plank, his face crimson, and Hinata remembered that he probably had never been held by anyone since the day he was born, when both of his parents had died. Taking his unresisting hand, she turned back to face the others. As expected, Ko's face with a picture of shock and even Neji looked mildly scandalised at her actions, but Chizuru had a smile on her wrinkled face. "Naruto-kun, this is Neji-niisan and Chizuru-san. Neji-niisan, Chizuru-san, this is Uzumaki Naruto-kun. My friend."

"Hinata-sama," Ko cut in tightly. "You do remember that Hiashi-sama instructed you to keep your association with Uzumaki-san discreet, do you not?"

"Ko-chan." Chizuru's gentle voice carried a distinct chiding note and the young bodyguard stepped back, suitably chastened. She bowed politely in greeting. "It's nice to meet you, Naruto-chan." Taken aback by the politeness, again possibly the first time anyone had ever addressed him this way, the blond boy clumsily returned the bow.

The retired kunoichi prodded Neji softly in the back. He jumped a little at the prompt and bowed, less deeply and more awkwardly than Chizuru had. "Nice to meet you, Naruto-san."

Slightly perplexed, Naruto nodded back. "Uh, nice to meet you too." He glanced from Neji to Hinata to Ko and back again. "So is _this_ your big brother, Hinata-chan?"

Hinata chuckled. "Ah, no, I don't have any brothers, Naruto-kun. Neji-niisan is my cousin."

"Any friend of Hinata- _sama's_ is a friend of mine," Neji added, leaning on the honourific a bit and giving Naruto a meaningful look.

Hinata hastened to correct him as Naruto looked a bit uncertain. "Ah, it's fine Neji-niisan, really. I'd prefer it if Naruto kun doesn't call me 'sama', actually, and really, you don't have to either." A surprised look crossed the older boy's face and he opened his mouth to say something, but Ko caught his eye and surreptitiously shook his head, causing him to close it again. Hinata scowled. "Ko-san, really! It's fine, at least for now, isn't it?"

The genin rolled his eyes in exasperation and Chizuru chuckled jovially. "If you say so, Hinata-sama," he said reluctantly. As much as she still cared deeply for him Hinata found herself wondering whether Ko had always been this uptight in the past, or whether it was just a response to her recent unexpected behavior. Or maybe he was just wound-up from recent events.

Naruto nodded in agreement. "Yeah, you don't need to use the 'san' either. So, uh, Neji, have you started at the Academy yet?"

Hinata's cousin looked surprised by both the question and by Naruto's familiarity. "Eh? Uh, no, not yet, Naruto-kun. I'll be starting with the yearly enrollment next month."

"Awesome!" the blond enthused. "I can't wait to start at the Academy. I'm going to become Hokage of this village one day, you know? Then everyone will have to acknowledge me!"

The declaration drew the expected mix of reactions; Ko raised a single incredulous eyebrow, Neji blinked in surprise, and Chizuru smiled approvingly right along with Hinata. To Hinata's delight and just as she'd hoped, Chizuru seemed to be rapidly warming up to Naruto, looking past the blind prejudice most of the villagers held towards him to see the likable young boy that he was.

"I'll be in the same class together with you next year, Naruto-kun, so I'm sure that together we can-oh! I almost forgot!" Hinata exclaimed. "Speaking of becoming Hokage, Hokage-sama told me to tell you that he'll come and see you again soon."

"Eh? The old man did?" Naruto said, astonished. "He drops in to see how I'm doing every now and then, but it's been a while since I've seen him." He looked at Hinata with interest. "When did you see him, Hinata-chan?"

The realisation that she was treading dangerous ground forced Hinata to become evasive. "Um, my father had a meeting with him earlier today and he brought me along," she answered vaguely. "Hokage-sama is a very nice person isn't he, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto grinned and nodded. "Yeah, I like the old man. He's one of the few people who's nice to me, apart from you, Hinata-chan. So, do you want to play something?" he asked her, bouncing up and down on his toes with excitement. "Neji too, of course."

Something else she'd almost forgotten came to her. "Uh... I'd love to, Naruto-kun," she said, half-distractedly. "Let's see..." She moved closer and leaned closer to whisper in his ear. "Do you like pranks, Naruto-kun?" This would be tricky. She didn't want to encourage Naruto into delinquency, but she needed to solidify her story.

Naruto shot her a sideways glance and grinned. "Yeah, I love 'em, Hinata-chan," he whispered back to them. "Do you?"

She squirmed a little. "Um... I don't really get up to them myself because it makes my father unhappy, but I have a good idea for one you could do if you want to, Naruto-kun. I can show you something useful. I just need you to do me a small favour. And keep it a secret from everyone, even Neji-niisan."

Naruto nodded guardedly. "OK, I promise, Hinata-chan," he muttered.

Relieved Hinata stepped back. The others were looking at her curiously, but not suspiciously (although Ko's expression still looked like he'd been sucking a lemon). "Shall we go play in the sandpit?" she suggested aloud, pointing over at the one next to the swings. It was empty now, as several parents had already collected their children and hastily left while they'd been talking, muttering darkly among themselves. "I was hoping to use it to draw a bit."

"If you like Hinata-sa, um, Hinata...san?" Neji offered, ignoring Ko's glower. Naruto nodded, grinning at the thought of the new prank Hinata had to teach him. Hinata just hoped she could teach Naruto to craft the moderately-complicated seal -as well as how to prime it with chakra- without anyone noticing what she was doing, as well as impress on him the importance of claiming that he'd invented it himself. If he _could_ master it, it would even help to better prepare him for the life ahead of him.

Despite her concerns, though, Hinata was simply looking foward to enjoying her childhood again while she had it. During her original childhood she had usually been very lonely, with no others she could call friends. Even Neji had been cold and distant owing to the circumstances of his father's death. She had just over a year until she and Naruto enrolled together in the Academy to begin their ninja training, which was when her most important work would truly begin. Until then, she would cherish this chance for a happiness that had been denied to her before. Taking Naruto by the hand she smiled. "Let's go Naruto-kun, Neji-niisan.

For her family. For her uncle. For her village. For her friends. And for Naruto. She swore would find a way to change the future that had been. And she _would_ succeed. She would never give up.

It was her ninja way.

TO BE CONTINUED...

###########

AFTERWORD: This concludes the opening story arc of 'For Love'. As regularly happens, this chapter ended up creeping up on me in length, making it by far the longest one I've written yet. I hope it's managed to hold your interest, despite not making any _radical_ changes to the timeline just yet. At this stage, it's all about planting seeds.

Unfortunately, this also marks the end of my preprepared content. I'd written several chapters in advance even before I'd posted the first one, because I write very slowly, but now I've caught up to the present- Chapter 7 is already underway as I post this, but is not _nearly_ complete. Subsequently, while I have so far released every chapter on the 2nd of each month for the last year, Chapter 7 will quite possibly be much later to arrive. I'm sorry, but it's the best I can do. At least I got to conclude this story arc first.

NEXT TIME...

Having settled into her new life, Hinata faces her next challenge with Naruto by her side- their first day of school! The next step in Hinata's plan to rewrite the future begins as she has her first meeting with future friends- and one future enemy. As the next great turning point of history approaches, Hinata questions whether there is anything she can do, or even if there is even anything she _should_ do. The joys of childhood meet the demands of the future in chapter 7 of For Love, **'Time For Youth'.**

\- Arcane Azmadi, 2017


	7. Chapter 7 - Time for Youth

FOR LOVE.

 **Note:** This is the new version of Chapter 7, after I realised I'd gotten a bunch of things wrong in the previous version. There are enough differences between it and the first version to be easily noticeable (including at least one entirely new scene) but if you really can't be be bothered reading it again there aren't any HUGE differences that will majorly affect the plot going forward, so you can skip it if you read it before.

 **Disclaimer:** My two little dogs are the cutest little dogs in the world, and if you say otherwise you're wrong. Noisy little buggers, though.

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Chapter 7: Time for Youth.

Hinata took a deep breath of the fresh morning air as the gates of the Hyuuga compound closed behind her. The sun was bright overhead despite the crisp coolness of winter and it looked like being a lovely day- ideal for what was happening today.

Her father was waiting for her with his arms folded into his sleeves, Neji standing by his side. He frowned. "Come along, Hinata. You must not be late on this day of all days."

Nodding, Hinata fell into step behind her father, walking beside Neji as they traversed the streets of Konoha. Neji surreptitiously glanced sideways at her. "You're not too nervous are you, Hinata?" he asked her in a whisper.

She shook her head, smiling. "Just excited, Neji-niisan." It had taken a lot of effort to get her cousin to stop addressing her with the usual honorific their relative positions in the clan demanded, and he'd still only do it when nobody would catch him at it, but she'd finally managed to break him of the habit. And while she was undoubtedly excited, it was unsurprising that he might expect her to be nervous as well.

After all, today was Hinata's first day at the Shinobi Academy.

It was rare enough for Hiashi to accompany his daughter anywhere, busy as he was with keeping the clan in order, but today was a special exception. It was traditional that a shinobi child should be accompanied to the Academy enrollment ceremony on their first day, and even Hiashi had not been exempt. In fact, the year before Hinata had been able to persuade him to, as Neji's guardian, attend her orphaned cousin's induction in the place of her late uncle Hizashi.

Chizuru would have offered to take her to school this day, but the old woman had been ailing over the past year as her age caught up with her, and rarely left the Hyuuga compound any longer. If she hadn't spent the last two days bedridden she would still have made the effort regardless. Hinata was sadly aware that her nursemaid would unavoidably die peacefully in her sleep of natural causes within the year. This was one sad event that there was simply _nothing_ she could do to change.

As the entrance to the huge compound came into sight, Hinata's heart skipped a customary beat as she saw the small figure in shorts and a grubby white T-shirt standing by the front gate, idly drawing circles in the dust with one foot. She'd known this new version of Uzumaki Naruto for a year already and it was sometimes difficult for her to remind herself that he wasn't actually her dead lover, but even so it was impossible to deny that he'd already found a place in her heart all of his own.

During her first life she'd only admired Naruto from afar during their time at the Academy and had never had the opportunity -or the courage- to become close to him and get to know him on a personal level. Given this second chance to do so, he had swiftly endeared himself to her. Naruto had been so delighted to have a friend -the princess, as he called her, of an important family, no less- that he had practically worshipped the ground she walked on. Despite how uneasy this made her, at least his natural roughness and inability to grasp proper politeness had prevented him from addressing her as formally as the members of her clan, keeping things from becoming _too_ awkward. Every moment they had spent together (at most only about one or two times a week, unfortunately) he had bubbled with excitement as if they were at an amusement park, and whenever they had parted he'd been left with an expression like the last unsold puppy left in a pet shop window. For her part, due to having also grown up without friends Hinata had never realised how much she enjoyed simply spending time in the company of someone who demanded absolutely nothing from her other than that she be herself.

Naruto sprang to life when he saw them approaching, waving excitedly at her. "Hey! Hinata-chan! Neji!" he called out, grinning from ear to ear. His outburst drew a mix of startled and disapproving looks from the surrounding parents who were bringing their children to the shinobi school for their first day. Hiashi glanced backwards at his daughter with one eyebrow raised reproachfully. He'd only met Naruto in person twice since Hinata's return to the past over a year ago and, despite continuing to permit her to associate with him, Hinata couldn't help gettiing the impression that her father wasn't impressed with the boy. Still, he said nothing as Naruto continued waving.

Hinata returned the wave, albeit in a more restrained manner than Naruto's energetic flailing, while Neji rolled his white eyes. While the older boy had readily accepted Naruto as Hinata's chosen friend and had inherited no prejudices against him like other children their age had, he still found Naruto's immaturity and hyperactivity somewhat confounding. Hinata wondered if Neji had ever realised that children their age were _meant_ to be childish, and it was the stoic composure expected of Hyuuga children that was different from the norm. Although to be fair to her cousin, Naruto _was_ a little on the extreme fringe of hyperactivity.

As they approached the entrance, Naruto left his spot and rushed up to her, stopping just short of the three of them, suddenly nervous. "Um, good morning, Hia- Hyuuga-sa-sama," he stammered, grinning weakly. Despite his usually irreverent attitude for everyone up to and including the Hokage, Hinata was well aware that Naruto was intimidated by her father, perhaps because he was aware that she was his friend only because Hiashi had approved it. Of course, even Hinata was still intimidated by her father, despite her secret advantage. Hyuuga Hiashi tended to have that effect on people.

Hiashi regarded him coolly for a second before nodding. "Good morning, Uzumaki-kun." Requisite pleasantries out of the way, he released the boy from his piercing gaze, turning his eyes somewhere up the road, apparently observing other parents bringing their children towards the gate.

Freed from her father's scrutiny, Naruto rushed past him and clasped Hinata's hands in his own. "The day is finally here, Hinata-chan!" he gushed, beaming. "We can finally start our formal training as ninja and I can take my first steps on my path to becoming Hokage!" In accordance with her better judgement, Hinata had decided against trying to secretly trying to get Naruto started on ninja training early, aside from teaching him the sonic detonation seal he had supposedly "invented". It had taken a considerable amount of effort to get him to memorise the moderately complicated seal correctly, and even more to teach him to channel his own chakra into the improvised seals (something that an untrained orphan child should have no idea how to do) without getting caught, but the thunderous detonations resounding throughout Konoha several times over the following week (before the Hokage had personally caught up with Naruto and had a stern word with him) had been testament to her success at this single task at least.

"Make sure you stay away from that boy as much as you can, Touji-chan," a woman's voice suddenly said from behind them. Naruto flinched and Hinata shot a quick look back over her shoulder. The mother in question had spoken to her son quietly, but not quietly enough to escape notice, and judging from the look she gave Naruto she probably hadn't really intended to.

Hinata looked up at her father for a reaction, but he didn't seem to have heard the comment at all- or if he did, he was acting like he didn't. Sighing internally, she took a downcast-looking Naruto's right hand in hers. "Come on, Naruto-kun, let's go," she said tightly and led him through the Academy gates, Neji and Hiashi a step behind them.

oooOOOooo

After Neji separated from them and entered the main building to join his second-year class, Hinata and Naruto joined a large mob of children and parents mobbing around the courtyard. Teachers were ushering children away from their proud mothers and fathers, who were directed out of the way to the left side of the yard, and trying to organise them into seven neat lines to await the arrival of the Hokage. Hand-in-hand with Naruto, Hinata hurried forward to find a place for themselves.

A harried-looking teacher grabbed each of them firmly but not roughly by the shoulder and pushed Hinata into position at the end of the first column on the left then continued forward with Naruto to place him further ahead in a shorter row two lines to her right. Naruto looked back at her in surprise as they were separated, discomfort visible on his face. "Hinata-chan-!"

She waved reassuringly. "Don't worry, Naruto-kun, I'll see you later."

Morosely her friend looked away as another two children were shuffled into position behind him. Hinata took the opportunity to look around her for familiar faces. She'd been bracing herself for the moment that she would come face-to-face with people who were, to her, long dead. To her own surprise, she had not encountered any of her former friends aside from Naruto over the course of the previous year. Even though she hadn't attempted to seek any of them out, she'd expected to cross paths with at least some of them by chance, but to a child, Konoha was a much larger place than she'd ever realised before.

Initially she was disappointed. Hinata hadn't been aware of exactly how many students were enrolling in Konoha's shinobi academy this year, but all she could see around her was strangers, children she didn't recognise at all. Of course, she hadn't had any friends during her time at the Academy, keeping to herself at all times, but between Kiba, Shino, Sakura, Sasuke, Ino, Shuikamaru and Chouji she'd expected to see at least _one_ of them. Then her attention was drawn by the sound of crying behind her. Turning, she saw a small pink-haired girl clinging to the leg of her mother, sobbing as a female teacher tried to gently coax her away. As Hinata watched, the girl's mother managed to pry her off her leg and crouched down before her, patting her on the head as she spoke to her soothingly. The little girl wiped her eyes, nodded and took the teacher's hand, reluctantly walking away from her mother to join the lines of other children in the Academy courtyard.

Hinata couldn't help but stare at the girl. While she couldn't recall much from her early Academy days, all her memories of Haruno Sakura were of a confident, forward and self-assured girl- not loud like Naruto was, but almost always the first student to raise her hand and give an (inevitably correct) answer to any question the teachers put to them. When she'd been assigned to Naruto's genin team along with Uchiha Sasuke, Hinata had been unable to entirely suppress a flicker of jealousy, particularly with Naruto's well-known (if hopeless) crush on the pink-haired girl. She'd managed to keep her envy in check and was over it by the time Naruto had returned from his three-year training trip. After their group had gone rogue to try and defeat Akatsuki and she had become Naruto's girlfriend, Sakura had become possibly her best friend, up until her death. It was almost impossible for her to reconcile the memory of the strong, opinionated kunoichi she'd known with the timid little girl she'd just seen in tears at the prospect of being separated from her mother for even one day.

Looking away from Sakura as the teacher positioned her in the line on the far right, Hinata tried to identify more of her friends. She had to fight down the urge to use her Byakugan to expedite the process as she scanned the crowd for a familiar face. A warm feeling surged in her chest as she spotted a head of scruffy, spiky hair (shorter than she remembered but still distinctive) above a face with two red triangles tattooed on the cheeks casually saunter into the line behind Sakura.

 _Kiba-kun!_ The sight of her friend couldn't help but make her smile. During their time on genin Team 8, Kiba had been like a big brother to her, especially since Neji had still quietly despised her until after that first eventful Chuunin Exam. He (and also Shino, in his own quiet, reserved manner) had always looked out for her and supported her, and she remembered, with a mixture of fondness and embarrassment, the time after their group had just departed from Konoha when Kiba had learned that she and Naruto had become a couple, and he'd threatened to tear off Naruto's testicles if he ever made her cry.

A familiar pang of pain stabbed into her as she recalled the last time she'd seen him, snarling defiantly in the instant before the devasting explosion of thirty of Konan's explosive tags had torn both him and Akamaru apart.

Before she could identify any more long-dead friends, the last few students were slotted into place, the sounds of chatter from the adults surrounding the area died down and the assembled teachers began hushing the kids. Standing on tiptoes to see past some of her taller classmates, Hinata was able to spot a conical red-and-white hat emerging from the Academy building and cross the courtyard before the Hokage stopped in front of the assembled ranks of aspiring shinobi trainees.

The old shinobi's eyes swept across the rows of assembled children, a fond smile on his face. The Professor cleared his throat and addressed them in a voice that resonated across the courtyard. "Welcome, children of the Leaf, to the Konoha Shinobi Academy. For the next six years you will train here to gain not only an essential life education, but also the skills that will enable you to become proud and noble ninjas of Konoha. The teachers here are committed to doing everything they can to help you live up to your full potential, so aim to be the best you can be and you will succeed." He paused a moment while his eyes flickered across the ranks of young faces in front of him, and Hinata could have sworn his smile widened a bit when he made the briefest of eye contact with her- or maybe she was just imagining it? "Everyone, congratulations on entering!" he declared. "From this day forth, please work hard and follow the shinobi way!"

A cheer went up from the assembled children, accompanied by polite applause from the parents.

oooOOOooo

Once the Hokage had departed, the teachers began moving down the lines of children, lists in hands, asking for each new student's name and telling them which of the three first-year classes they would be joining, then sending them into the Academy building to find their new classroom. With a sudden jolting realisation, Hinata remembered that, the first time around, she hadn't actually _been_ in the same class as Naruto until the second year. The realisation wasn't _too_ upsetting -she would still be able to see him outside of class, after alll- but the thought that, after all their anticipation, they wouldn't be "learning to be ninja together" after all was quite disappointing.

Looking down the line, Hinata saw a teacher, an elderly-looking ninja with dark glasses that obscured his eyes, talking to Naruto. She couldn't help but notice the subtle grimace that twisted the man's mouth when Naruto supplied his name and she felt that same familiar sting she always did when someone judged Naruto by his unwitting prisoner. Naruto nodded as the teacher told him which class he was in and wandered out of his place in the diminishing line, but instead of joining the muddle of children streaming into the Academy building, he drifted aimlessly around near the entrance, looking back towards her in anticipation.

The teacher who'd been working her way back up Hinata's line, a severe-looking pinch-faced woman with her hair tied up in an austere bun, caught her attention. "And you would be...?" she asked briskly.

"Hyuuga Hinata," Hinata replied simply.

The kunoichi consulted the list in her hands again. "Ah yes, you're in class 1-C, dear. End of the hall on the first floor." Without another wasted word, she moved on to the girl standing behind Hinata. "And your name is...?"

Hinata headed over to where Naruto was waiting for her at the front door of the Academy. "Naruto-kun?"

He grinned at her. "Hey Hinata, what class are you in?"

She sighed internally. "Um, I'm in 1-C."

To her shock, her friend's grin only widened. "Great! So am I! Looks like we get to be together after all! I was worried for a bit there." He took her hand. "Let's go

Nonplussed, she allowed Naruto to lead her down the hall to their shared classroom. Somehow, _something_ had changed since her first life to put her and Naruto together earlier than before. Hinata had no idea what she could have possibly done that would have caused such an arbitrary change. Still, she was hardly about to complain. She wondered if the Hokage, who was well aware of their strange friendship and had long held a soft spot for Naruto, was behind it.

The door of classroom 1-C was already open thanks to the steady flow of children passing through it and Hinata could hear the chattering of young voices inside it already. Another pair of students passed through it in front of them, but on the threshold Hinata hesitated, pulling Naruto up short beside her. He looked at her curiously as she tried to gather herself.

She'd already seen Kiba and Sakura before in the courtyard, and that had given her a mix of joy and bittersweet sadness. Depending on the class assignments, beyond this door might be Shino, Shikamaru, Chouji and Ino. Most of whom she had seen die in front of her more than ten years into the future.

Beyond this door could be Uchiha Sasuke, the traitor.

To the end, Naruto had been resolved to redeem his friend, even after he'd joined Akatsuki, even after he'd made clear his ambition to utterly destroy Konoha. Hinata had kept her doubts to herself, but ultimately Naruto had never gotten the chance. The last trace they had ever seen of the last Uchiha had been his Sharingan staring at them from the twisted, scaled face of Yakushi Kabuto.

Swallowing her nervousness, she glanced across at Naruto. "Are you ready, Naruto-kun?"

The grin he gave her in reply was somewhat nervous. "Sure I am, Hinata-chan." Gripping her hand tighter, he led her forward through the open door of the classroom.

Hinata had been expecting the entire classroom to fall silent, for all activity to come to a sudden halt and all eyes to turn toward them as they entered. Instead, almost none of the chattering mob of students inside even spared them a glance, and those who did looked away in disinterest immediately. Hinata blushed with embarassment at her overinflated sense of her own importance. It made perfect sense that they didn't attract much attention- Naruto was still a nobody at best at this stage of his life, and even if Hinata was the heir to a powerful family, nobody here would know her on sight. In this classroom, they were just another pair of new first-year students.

Hinata didn't know if that realisation was disturbing or liberating.

Despite the apathetic response to their entrance, she could sense Naruto bubbling with excitement beside her. Before she could stop him, he jumped up and punched the air as if he'd just won a prize. "All right!" he shouted, immediately drawing all eyes to himself. "Finally, my road to the Hokage position begins right here!"

This time a dead silence did fall over the classroom, the chatter instantly stilled, and Hinata held her breath, waiting in dread for the inevitable explosion of contemptuous laughter. Instead, there were only a few giggles and bemused looks. Hinata's memory of her earliest days at the Academy were vague at best, so she'd forgotten that it hadn't been Naruto's lofty aspirations that had earned him the mockery of their peers- it was continuing to insist that he would become Hokage throughout his subsequent years of failure at the bottom of the class that had eventually made his claims a sad joke.

"Come on, Naruto-kun," she said, "let's find ourselves a seat." Smiling, he squeezed her hand again and they stepped forward into the classroom.

Although there were plenty of empty seats to choose from, actually agreeing on a place to sit proved surprisingly difficult. Naruto wanted to sit right down at the front in front of the teachers where he could be seen, while Hinata had always preferred an unobtrusive seat closer to the back. Looking around for a familiar face, Hinata spotted Sakura sitting quietly in the last row at the back, looking like she was trying not to be noticed. If any of their other friends were in this class, though, they hadn't entered yet.

After a brief, subdued disussion, with other kids pushing past them and taking up the seats, Hinata gave in. She just couldn't argue with young Naruto when he pouted like that. So the two of them found seats together on one of the three front row benches. Naruto sat up ramrod straight, excitedly waiting for class to begin with an air of impatience, while Hinata surreptitiously looked around at the other students who were already present. Unfortunately, none of the children other than Sakura were familiar to her, all of them students who had ultimately not made the cut to become fully-fledged genin and had either returned to the Academy for further schooling or dropped out while she, Naruto and their friends had moved on. Until she had been placed onto Team 8, Hinata's intoverted nature meant that she had barely even known the names any of her classmates other than the standout students like the prodigy Uchiha Sasuke, the top-scoring girl Haruno Sakura and, of course, the loud and overenthusiastic "dead last", Uzumaki Naruto.

Another two children Hinata failed to recognise walked through the open door. She noticed Naruto scrutinising them as if he was sizing them up for a fight, perhaps measuring their potential to rival him for the position of Hokage. While she almost envied him his eagerness, she knew better than to put the cart before the horse- the two of them had six long years of study and training ahead of them before they would even qualify as genin.

She noticed that Naruto, apparently already bored of waiting for class to begin, had twisted around in his seat to study the other kids who were already sitting behind them. His blue eyes suddenly widened and, tracking the direction of his gaze, Hinata realised that he was staring at Sakura where she huddled in her seat at the back of the room. Despite herself, she felt that instinctive sting of jealousy again. Perhaps feeling her watching him, Naruto glanced back at her, and blushed as their eyes met, turning his eyes down to stare at the desk beneath his hands. Hinata sighed internally. Well it couldn't be helped, and to be completely fair, it _shouldn't_ be. Sakura was a pretty girl -Hinata had always been painfully aware that Sakura was far prettier than her- and it was completely natural that Naruto's eyes would be drawn to her the first time her saw her. But some instincts she just couldn't control.

Over the next two minutes, students trickled into the classroom at a steadily-increasing pace, bringing with them a handful of familiar faces. A cheerful Akimichi Chouji, already chowing down on an open packet of chips, walked in ahead of his everpresent friend Nara Shikamaru, who was dragging his feet reluctantly. Yamanaka Ino arrived with a gaggle of other girls, chattering ceaselessly among themselves. Hinata grew tense as the time for the beginning of class approached and the classroom filled up, with only a few students still yet to arrive.

One more student entered and Hinata stiffened. _It's him!_ Uchiha Sasuke stood bouncing up and down on his toes excitedly for several seconds as he scanned the room, before practically _skipping_ across to the rows of desks, looking for a place to sit.

Immediately Hinata was struck by how _wrong_ this was. Where was the silent, brooding, cold boy who had never expressed anything other than mild contempt towards his classmates? The child who was excitedly scampering about to look for an unoccupied seat was without a doubt Uchiha Sasuke but, like Sakura, he was _totally_ different from how she remembered him. He was... _normal._

Staring at the boy as he took one of the last seats on the front-row bench to their left, the reason for the discrepency dawned on her. This was Uchiha Sasuke from _before_ the apparent betrayal by his brother and the slaughter of his family, just as Neji had been different when she'd first returned, before his branding with the Caged Bird Seal and the death of his father. He wasn't Uchiha Sasuke the avenger, the last of the Uchiha clan. He was just Uchiha Sasuke, second son of the Uchiha family head.

A prickly feeling on the side of her head made her turn. This time it was Naruto staring at her, his eyes flickering past her to Sasuke and back to her again, a scowl on his face. As soon as he realised she was looking back at him, though, he blushed again and turned his head away to stare in the opposite direction. A strange, uncomfortable feeling began to wiggle in the pit of her stomach, something she found it difficult to put her finger on.

Once more, there was motion at the door, but this time it wasn't another student. A pair of shinobi entered, sliding the door closed behind them, and strode to the center of the room, a large, tubby man with a small goatee wearing his Konoha protector over his head like a bandanna who almost looked like a member of the Akimichi clan, and a rather plain-looking woman with a neat bob of brown hair, a small scar near the right corner of her mouth, and her Konoha protector tied around her right bicep instead of her head. "All right everyone, quieten down!" the man called out. "Welcome to the Konoha Ninja Academy! I'm Tessai Haruki-" _Not_ an Akimichi then, apparently. "-and my colleague is Tsukiji Yoko, and we're going to be your instructors for the next six years until your graduation." He nodded to the woman, who stepped forward, holding a clipboard. Hinata stared at them in surprise. She'd forgotten that Umino Iruka and Kogano Mizuki had only taken over their class during their fourth year at the Academy. Now that she thought about it, both of them would still only be teenagers themselves at the moment.

"Alright children," Yoko said with obviously-forced cheerfulness, "first thing's first, I'm going to take the roll. Answer your name when I call it, OK? First, Asakusa Reiko?" A mousy girl in the seat behind Hinata called out a quiet affirmative and raised her hand. Yoko made a mark on the clipboard. "Awajo Kouzuki?" Another response from a rather plain boy sitting near the door. "Akimi-"

She was interrupted by the door unexpectedly rattling open yet again. Everyone in the room turned to look as a spiky-haired boy paused in the doorway, breathing heavily, and again Hinata's eyes went wide. "S-sorry!" Inuzuka Kiba panted. "I, uh, I w-went to class 1-A instead." He swallowed. "O-only realised it when the teacher got to the end of the roll and I wasn't on it. Sorry." Considering how hard he was breathing in spite of the fact that class 1-A was only a few dozen metres down the hallway, he must have _sprinted_ out of the room as fast as his short legs could carry him the instant the realisation had dawned.

Dumbfounded, Haruki and Yoko could only nod in response and Hinata couldn't help it, joining the rest of the class in a fit of spontaneous giggles. It was good to know not _everything_ was going to be different from how she'd expected it to be.

oooOOOooo

Hinata was in a thoughtful mood as she filed out of the classroom with everyone else at the end of the day. Unsurprisingly, the first day of school had started off very lightly. To begin with, everyone had introduced themselves to the class one at a time, starting with their name and either their favourite thing or their most important person. Hinata had been briefly concerned that Naruto would say his most important person was her, but fortunately he hadn't disappointed her and had proudly announced that his favourite thing was ramen. After some thought, Hinata had gone with the safe option and said that the most important thing to her was her clan.

In the end, class 1-C had ended up containing all of her former friends except Shino, which Hinata was pretty certain hadn't happened last time, but she'd decided to just roll with it. Listening to the others talking about themselves with the benefit of hindsight had been interesting. Sakura's favourite person had been her mother. Unsurprisingly, Ino had said her favourite thing was flowers, Chouji's was yakiniku, and Shikamaru's was the clouds, which briefly raised an interesting discussion about whether or not he could lay claim to them, resolved when the boy had asked whether anyone else wanted them (no-one did). Kiba liked his family's dogs.

Sasuke said his favourite person was his brother Itachi, a genius prodigy who was already a chuunin and would be enrolling in ANBU this very day, despite only being twelve years old.

Once introductions were done, the teachers had begun their lecture. The subject of their first class was what it meant to be a ninja of Konoha, followed by a rough outline of the things they would be learning over their next six years in his class. Hinata noticed that Naruto seemed fidgety and inattentive during the first part, but had perked up when things turned to the curriculum of taijutsu, ninjutsu, physical training and chakra control they would be going through.

After the lecture had come lunch. The students had stayed in the classroom for the duration of their break, with several of them moving around and talking with other students in room once they'd finished eating. Naruto had morosely gulped down his pair of small tuna rice balls in a few bites and had sat uncomfortably beside her while she delicately picked at her bento with her chopsticks. She'd offered to share her lunch with him, but he'd emphatically declined insisting he couldn't take her food. Hinata silently resolved to bring a second lunch for him tomorrow.

Once lunch was done, afternoon classes resumed with a basic introduction to chakra theory. There was nothing Hinata needed to learn here, so she spent the period observing her classmates with interest. Sasuke, Sakura, Ino and, surprisingly, Chouji were paying keen attention, while Shikamaru already had his head down on his desk and Kiba was joking around with the boy sitting next to him. Beside her, Naruto was staring intently at the chalkboard, but Hinata noticed he had a somewhat glassy look in his eyes and his gaze was constantly wandering off before he would shake his head and refocus himself on the lesson.

At the end of class, Haruki-sensei gave them some simple homework for the next day- they had to tell the class what their biggest goal for the future was. Then, with the promise that they would begin practical chakra-moulding lessons afterwards, he dismissed them. And so Hinata and Naruto joined the rush of students packing around the classroom door. Standing at the back of the mob, Naruto stretched his arms and cricked his neck with an audible popping noise. "Ahh... man, that was a long day," he moaned. "Is it going to be like this for the next six years?"

"Probably even worse, Naruto-kun," she said, smiling. "We have a lot to learn to become ninjas, after all."

Her friend heaved a resigned sigh as they made their way through the door and walked down the crowded corridor, children all around them meeting up with their parents before heading home. "You're right, Hinata-chan. It's what I have to do to become Hokage. But it's hard to understand all this chakra stuff."

Hinata would have loved to offer to help him, but she was supposed to meet Neji out the front and go directly home to tell her father how her first day had transpired. She opened her mouth to say something, but then she stopped dead in her tracks. Uchiha Sasuke skipped past her excitedly, bouncing to a stop in front of a tall, handsome teenager who looked a lot like him only older.

Hinata had never seen Uchiha Itachi in person before. Less than a year from now, he would depart from Konoha forever, in circumstances which would rock the village to the core. But there was no mistaking him.

A chill ran through her body, like she'd been impaled by an icicle falling from the ceiling of a n icy cavern. With an absolute certainty she knew: _this_ was the next major turning point. The Uchiha Massacre would upset the balance of power in Konoha and lead to its perpetrator eventually joining Akatsuki, but perhaps even more importantly it would also set the cheerful young boy excitedly greeting his beloved older brother down the dark path of the avenger, the path that would eventually lead Uchiha Sasuke to his doom.

She jumped as she felt someone tug on her sleeve. Naruto was looking at her with concern. "Hey Hinata-chan, are you alright?"

Hinata realised she'd been staring. She swallowed and forced a smile. "I'm fine, Naruto-kun. Don't worry about the details of chakra theory too much. You already know how to channel your chakra, right?"

The boy blinked. "Oh, yeah! You're right!" It was almost like he'd forgotten than the sonic detonation seal she'd taught him was ninjutsu and not just a useful prank. He rubbed the back of his head. "Well then... I guess I'll see you tomorrow, Hinata-chan?"

She spotted Neji coming down the stairs from his second-floor classroom, walking past the Uchiha brothers like they were just any two other people- which, at this point in time, they still were. "See you tomorrow, Naruto-kun."

oooOOOooo

 _The air between the two young men as they stared each other down was so charged with tension that it was almost solid. The cavern the two trios faced across each other seemed barely big enough to contain the pressure; the surface of the pool of water that stood between them seemed to quiver and ripple from the tension. Naruto, who never displayed anything other than absolute confidence even when staring near-certain death in the face, seemed almost cowed by the piercing glare of the red eyes. Standing a few paces behind him, Hinata bit her lip, barely daring to breathe as the two friends confronted each other._

 _"Sasuke, why are you doing this?" Sakura pleaded desperately from where she stood at Naruto's left hand. "We know you must miss everything you lost when your family died, but you can't_ really _believe this crazy plan of Madara's will work, can you? Think of all the things, the_ real _things, that are being destroyed so he can place all his hopes in... in a dream!"_

 _The Sharingan flickered over the girl emotionlessly for a moment before returning to Naruto's face. "I don't care about Madara's plan," Uchiha Sasuke said, his voice as flat and expressionless as his face. "The dead are gone. They're not coming back. I couldn't less what Madara does with Naruto once I bring him to him."_

 _Sakura recoiled a step as if Sasuke had spat in her face. Naruto started to visibly tremble. "Then... then_ why _are you doing this?!" the cherry-haired kunoichi shouted. "If you don't even care about the Moon's Eye Plan, why are you helping a monster like Madara? Why are you willing to kill your best friend?" She shook her head, on the verge of tears._

 _"For vengeance." Sasuke's voice was as cold as a hammer ringing off an anvil. "Did you know about how my family was sacrificed so the rest of Konoha could live in comfort? How_ my brother _was sacrificed, forced to kill our parents and everyone he knew and loved, because only_ he _could do it?" Hinata couldn't see Naruto's face from where she was standing, but Sakura looked shocked. "That's right," Sasuke continued, "my brother slaughtered our clan on the orders of the Third Hokage and the Council of Konoha, just because they believed the village and our family could not coexist. My brother was such a perfect ninja that he could not refuse. The only concession he made was sparing me." He gritted his teeth for a moment before carrying on. "Itachi sacrificed_ everything _for your village. He sacrificed his family, his friends, his position, his honour, and even tried to sacrifice my love for him by making me hate him. And he was repaid... with_ nothing. _So I must take back what he is owed, what the entire Uchiha clan is owed- in blood."_

 _"Sasuke." Finally Naruto spoke. "I... I understand what you must be feeling. I... I know the rage you feel when someone has done the unforgivable. The urge to make them pay in kind for what they did." Hinata tasted blood in her mouth as she recognised what her boyfriend was referring to. "But that... that path leads nowhere. Revenge ends nothing, it only drives a never-ending cycle. Killing me won't make you feel any better."_

 _A flicker of anger crossed Sasuke's face. "What makes you think this is about_ me?" _he snapped tensely. "My_ feelings? _As always, you're talking like a child, Naruto! This is about_ duty!"

 _Naruto stepped forward, anger starting to boil over in him as well. "The dead are gone, they've never coming back, you said so yourself! What happened to your family and your brother was terrible, Sasuke, but they shouldn't have any hold on you any more! You have the opportunity here to end the cycle of revenge in its tracks, all you have to do it_ stop! _Is this what Itachi would have wanted for you?"_

 _"Don't tell me what Itachi wanted!" Sasuke roared suddenly, his expressionless face suddenly twisted with rage. "Don't attempt to speak for him! Don't even say his name!" His two companions, Suigetsu and Juugo, nervously stepped away from him, as if he would explode. Calming himself with visible effort, he glared at Naruto and his friends again. "You_ are _still just a brat after all, Naruto. The reason the 'cycle of revenge' you speak of exists is because it is the_ correct _way of things. Blood_ must _be repaid with blood. Or else there is no justice in this world."_

 _Speechless, Naruto staggered backwards as if he'd been struck in the face. Hinata caught him by the shoulder, steadying him. Plucking up her courage, she looked the last Uchiha straight in his scarlet eyes. "Sasuke-san, I... we understand you must do your duty by your family. But Konoha has... already been destroyed by Pain. Tsunade-sama died. We... we heard about how you killed Danzo. Surely your need for revenge should be sated by now."_

 _The red eyes burned- and now Hinata could see the smoldering madness in them. "No. It is not enough. Not_ nearly _enough to pay the price for the Uchiha clan. Not until every man, woman and child who prospered from the deaths of my family has paid." He stared at Naruto again, all traces of his former dispassion gone. "And you, Naruto. You always said you wanted to be Hokage. You claim to bear the Will of Fire. You, most of all, must die. And once I bring you to Madara, he will help me wipe every last trace of Konoha off the face of the Earth. And once that is done, and you are dead, only then will my family be at peace."_

 _The killing intent flowed off Sasuke in waves as Naruto, Sakura and Hinata stared at him in horror. Even Sasuke's companions looked a little unnerved. Slowly Naruto raised a trembling hand and pointed at his friend. Hinata could hear his teeth grinding in his jaw. "Sasuke..." he declared. "You really have totally lost it. You're completely sick in the head." His hand clenched into a fist. "But don't worry. I'm going to make you better. You may not enjoy it-" Waves of chakra roiled out from her boyfriend's body, pushing back Sasuke's killing intent as Naruto prepared for battle. "-but you'll feel a lot better once I'm done."_

 _Hinata folded her hands into the seal to activate her Byakugan and Sakura dropped into a defensive stance as Sasuke's Sharingan eyes glittered. "So be it," he whispered. "Time to make an end of it, Naruto."_

oooOOOooo

That hadn't been the end, of course, Hinata somberly recalled. The fight had been brutal beyond compare, but ultimately inconclusive. Naruto and Sasuke had eventually managed to completely incapacitate each other, leaving her and Sakura to face Suigetsu and Juugo. Despite the near-invulnerability to physical attacks his liquid form had given him, Suigetsu's nerve had broken when Hinata had been able to disrupt the flow of his chakra through the water with her Byakugan and Jyuuken and he'd retreated, taking Sasuke with him. The berserk Juugo had fought to the death, furiously trying to rip them apart even when his teammate had abandoned him. She and Sakura were certain they'd killed him, leaving his lifeless body on the floor of the cavern as they carried Naruto's unconscious form to safety, but the next time their groups had crossed paths he was standing by Sasuke's side again as if nothing had happened.

Sitting at the desk in her room, Hinata propped her chin up on her hands and sighed. The only way she could realistically _guarantee_ that Sasuke would not descend into revenge-obsessed madness was to prevent the entire Uchiha clan massacre from taking place. But from what she knew, that was almost impossible- after that encounter with Sasuke, Naruto had asked Shikamaru to investigate the circumstances surrounding the massacre the next time they'd met up and, while Sasuke's story hadn't been the _whole_ truth, from what he'd been able to dig up it had been true enough. While it had turned out to be true that Itachi had slaughtered his own clan on orders from the leadership of Konoha, the Uchiha had apparently been planning a coup against Konoha, dissatisfied with their position in the village. They didn't know whether Sasuke had been aware of this, or whether he simply didn't care, and by that stage it didn't really matter. But now, that knowledge added massive complications to any ideas Hinata had about averting the slaughter. It wouldn't be enough simply to stop Itachi- she had to stop the entire Uchiha clan.

She massaged her aching temples with her fingers. Could she instead somehow prevent the coup attempt, removing the need for the clan to be wiped out? But that would require her to know exactly who was driving their unrest and why, and despite being the daughter of the _second-_ most influential family in the villlage she really didn't have the connections necessary for that.

Maybe if she used her secret position as the village's seer to warn the Hokage about the coup before the conspiracy advanced too far, he might be able to do something to diffuse it before the council felt there was no recourse but the most extreme measures? It was possible that would work- or it might just move the timetable forward. While she could use the Hokage's belief in her "dreams" to spur him to action if what she told him suggested a clear course of action to take, she had no direct control over exactly _how_ he would react. If she let him know that Itachi's massacre of the entire clan apart from Sasuke would eventually result in Sasuke betraying the village, it might only lead the to council demanding Sasuke's death as well.

For a moment she toyed with the possibility, a shiver running down her spine. If Sasuke died as well, he would never betray Konoha, never join Orochimaru, never join Akatsuki, never hurt Naruto. Sasuke had never been her friend, her only connection with him being Naruto's unflinching resolve to save him from himself- to her, he had been at most only a classmate, then a contemporary, and finally an enemy. _Could_ she just write him off as a lost cause, sacrifice him now to ensure a better future?

The temptation lasted for only that moment. No. Of course she couldn't allow the young Uchiha Sasuke to die for things another Uchiha Sauke had done in another life, things that he had yet to do and that may yet be averted. Naruto would have never condoned it, and ultimately Hinata knew that, when it came down to it, neither could she. There may have been many shinobi who could make such a cold rationalisation for a greater good, but that was not _their_ ninja way.

Considerations of morality aside, Sasuke had still been an important part of Naruto's life even before his betrayal. He had been Naruto's rival at the Academy, even if Sasuke had initially considered Naruto so far beneath him that he didn't even recognise the rivalry, and during their time on genin Team 7 they had both saved each other's lives several times, each of them motivating the other to become stronger. When Oto and Suna had attacked Konoha, Sasuke had played an important role in helping Naruto defeat Gaara of the Sand. If he died in the Uchiha clan massacre, there was no knowing what knock-on effects there could be in the future.

This got her no closer to finding a solution, she realised with a sigh. The ideal solution would presumably be to find a way to avert the massacre altogether, but doing so would require her to understand the motivations behind the clan's planned coup and defuse them, a task which may not even be possible at all, and almost certainly beyond the reach of a six-year old girl.

If the massacre itself were unavoidable, maybe she could tweak the outcome so that Sasuke would not be left with the same maddening drive for revenge? But how could she do that? She had to admit that, had her own family been slaughtered in such a fashion, even she might have been consumed by obsessive thoughts of vengeance, although she hoped she would not have allowed them to consume her so utterly. As Sasuke had said during that confrontation in the cavern, it would have been no less than her duty. How could she possibly convince him that the annihilation of his clan was something he could just let go?

She had time yet. While she couldn't remember the exact day that the massacre had taken place, she knew it would not happen until well into their first Academy year. In the time she had, she could reacquaint herself with the political situation surrounding the Uchiha clan, investigate the circumstances that would eventually lead to their ill-fated attempt at a coup, and broaden her options.

Sighing again, she sat back in her chair and stretched, then reached forward for a pencil. She could think about this later. For now, she had homework to do.

oooOOOooo

"...I want to have two kids, first a girl, then a boy," the boy read out in a bored voice. "I want to make it too retirement without too much trouble, then spend my days playing shogi and go while my kids look after me. And I want to die peacefully of old age before my wife. That's all."

The teachers stared, somewhat glassy-eyed. The other students seemed too baffled even to laugh. Eventually Haruki cleared his throat. "Th-thank you, Shikamaru-kun," he managed. "That was certainly, uh, comprehensive." For a moment he looked like he was going to ask the boy further questions, then thought better of it. Glancing down at the student list before him, he made a mark on it then looked up at the class again. "So, next let's have, uh..." His eyes roamed over the students then narrowed as they settled on the one sitting to Hinata's right. "...Uzumaki Naruto. Tell us about your plans for the future."

Naruto blinked in surprise, then grinned excitedly as he stood up. "Oh yeah! After I become a ninja, I'm gonna become Hokage! And then everyone is gonna have to acknowledge me!"

The whispering that had started up in the wake of Shikamaru's in-depth answer was instantly hushed again. Haruki and Yoko exchanged nonplussed glances. "Is that all, Uzumaki-kun?" Yoko asked, somewhat frostily.

The boy looked confused, as if he'd been asked about his favourite flavour of dirt. "Uh... what more is there than becoming Hokage?" The teacher's attitude seemed have put him off and Hinata's heart sank.

"You don't think you might be... aiming a bit high?" Haruki asked sardonically. "The Hokage is the village's strongest shinobi. You're only on your second day of class, Uzumaki-kun." The other students started to giggle among themselves and Naruto flushed red, clenching his hands angrily.

"Why would anyone aim for anything _less_ than the top?" he demanded. "I _will_ be the strongest shinobi, and then I'll show all of you! One day you'll all have to call me 'Hokage-sama'!"

The giggling spilled over into outright laughter and Haruki smirked, but Yoko just gave Naruto a disapproving look. "We'll see, Uzumaki-kun," she said simply. Hinata put a gentle hand on her friend's trembling fist. Naruto looked down at her and she smiled up at him reassuringly. His hand unclenched and he sat down again, fuming inwardly but holding his tongue.

Haruki's head turned only a little before his gaze settled on its next target. "Hinata-kun, could you go next?"

Hinata stood up. "Yes, Haruki-sensei." She took a deep breath. "My hope for the future is to become strong enough to protect this village and its people from any who would threaten it," she said in a clear voice. "I want to protect my family, my friends and all my precious people. I want to make sure we can all exist in a world that's at peace, so I can live together happily with the one I love."

For the third time in a row, the class fell silent in hushed astonishment. Hinata's cheeks pinked -that last part had been a result of her tongue running ahead of her brain- but this time nobody was laughing. She barely noticed Haruki rolling his eyes above a forced smile, but there was not a trace of scorn in the one Yoko gave her. "That's very admirable, Hinata-kun," she said. "Putting the welfare of the village ahead of any personal ambitions is an ideal that all loyal ninja should aspire to." Her smile turned a little bit mischievous. "So you have someone you're in love with already?"

This time the class giggled as Hinata blushed deeper this time. "I was just speaking hypothetically, Yoko-sensei," she lied.

"Of course," the teacher chuckled good-naturedly. "Alright then, Shinta-kun?"

Hinata sat down, relieved. As a student in the fourth row rose to take his turn, Naruto looked at her, his blue eyes shining. "That was really cool, Hinata-chan," he whispered to her.

She smiled back at him. "Thank you, Naruto-kun. I thought your answer was good too."

He made a face. "Nobody else thought so."

"That's OK, Naruto-kun," she whispered. "Like Yoko-sensei said, this is only your second day of school. You have plenty of time to show them how good you really are."

Enlightenment spread across Naruto's face. "Oh... yeah, you're right! That must be what Yoko-sensei meant too! Sure, I'm not going to become Hokage _right now,_ but give me a few years after graduation and- _ow!"_

Haruki-sensei had snatched up a piece of chalk from the board and sent it flying across the room like a kunai to hit Naruto between the eyes. It left a white dot in the middle of Naruto's forehead like a third eye and clattered onto the floor. "Less chatter while your classmates are talking!" the teacher scolded him. "Everyone listened to you when it was your turn, now show them the same courtesy!"

"Everyone laughed at me," Naruto muttered rebelliously, rubbing his forehead, but he grouchily settled down to listen until the end of class. Hinata gazed at him sympathetically. Not even the Academy teachers could contain their disdain for Naruto

It would be another three years of this until Iruka and Mizuki took over their education and Naruto would meet his life-long friend and mentor. Well either way, for now it couldn't be helped. And at least Naruto already had her and, technically, Neji on his side. Sighing internally, Hinata turned her attention back to the front of the room where the stout teacher was beginning to explain the way to mould chakra. Problems for another day.

oooOOOooo

The men knelt in a close circle on the tatami matting, the enclosed room illuminated by a single candle standing between them. The air between them was thick with tension and conspiracy. Three of them exchanged glances before turning to the fourth, who sat ramrod-straight with his hands on his knees and his eyes closed.

"You can't deny you've noticed it, Fugaku-sama," one of them said. "Our clan is being diminished, day by day. Ever since we were put in charge of the military police, the elders on the Council have used that as an excuse to slowly marginalise our opinions. 'Conflicts of interest', they call it," the man spat contemptuously.

The head of the Uchiha clan opened his eyes, but otherwise did not move. "They are not incorrect," he stated calmly. "Matters of greater village policy shold not fall under the purview of those charged with enforcing the law in Konoha."

"Why not?" snapped the second of the three men. "This is _our_ village! Konoha was founded by the Uchiha and the Senju, and the Senju are all gone. Hokage-sama is undoubtedly a great shinobi, but he has no ties to those who made this village what it is today other than being a student of the Second, and the late Fourth didn't even have that advantage. And now upstart lesser clans like the Hyuuga are starting to eclipse our rightful position at the forefront of Konoha."

"No Uchiha has yet been Hokage," the last man put in, "even though we have been here from the beginning. _We_ are the ones who fought and died to make Konoha strong. What right does the Council have to freeze us out?"

Fugaku slowly turned his head to glare at all three men. "And who are you suggesting should be the next Hokage, then?" he asked harshly. "Me? One of _you,_ maybe?"

The men flinched back under his gaze, but rallied. "Of course n-not necessarily, Fugaku-sama," the third man corrected himself quickly. "If there is any man best-suited to succeeding the Third when he agrees to return to retirement, wouldn't it be your son?"

"Your eldest, Itachi," the first man clarified unnecessarily, as if six-year old Sasuke had been a realistic option. "Would anyone argue that he is not the strongest shinobi in our entire clan? His power and skill are both unparalleled, as is his loyalty. Some have called him a perfect ninja."

If possible, the clan head's tone grew even chillier. "His virtues are well-known to me," Fugaku said. "So what makes you think he would condone _rebellion?"_

The conspirators exchanged awkward glances. "Well..." one of them said uneasily, "if Itachi would decline the honour, there would still be others who would be suitable. Shisui, for example, would make a fine Hokage."

"That he would," agreed the man beside him. "And nobody has said anything about 'rebellion', Fugaku-sama. All we are saying is that we feel you need to keep in mind the greater future of the Uchiha clan and our place in Konoha, that is all. You need to think about what kind of world you want your sons, and eventually their own children, to grow up in as well."

"Your dedication to the welfare of our clan and my sons does you credit," Fugaku said sarcastically. "Very well, your voices have been heard, although if there is no question of 'rebellion' then I wonder why it was so important that you speak to me in private at this time of night."

The men shifted uneasily where they sat. Fugaku sighed. "I will think about what you have said," he conceded wearily. "Thank you for bringing your concerns to me. Now, I'm sure you gentlemen will be wanting to retire to bed." The three men rose to their feet in response to the dismissal, bowed formally to their leader and slipped out of the room. The Uchiha clan head was left alone in the candelit room with a head full of disturbing thoughts. Angrily swiping his hand through the air, a wave of chakra snuffed the candle, plunging him into stygian darkness.

TO BE CONTINUED...

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AFTERWORD:

So this is the first time I've ever had to do this- actually pulling a chapter down and extensively rewriting it. It's embarassing, but I didn't see any alternative. You see, when I was writing Chapter 8 (it's coming along nicely, don't worry), I finally got around to doing something I should have done a LONG time ago- going back and rereading the flashback chapters of the manga where Sasuke details the events surrounding Itachi's massacre of the Uchiha clan. And then I realised I'd seriously messed up the events surrounding the first day at the Academy. I'd completely forgotten the flashback even HAD covered those events, let alone that there was an important plot detail I'd overlooked- namely that Itachi had actually threatened to skip the meeting about him joining ANBU to take Sasuke to school if their father Fugaku wouldn't, because parents were expected to accompany their children to school on the first day. Fugaku also talked to a teacher there who was looking forward to teaching Sasuke because he'd previously taught Itachi, so I had to redesign my OC teacher Tessai Haruki to bring him in line with this existing character's design. Finally, I noticed that the students were actually divided into three separate classes in their first year at least (Sasuke's first semester report card showed him as top of his class of 30 students and also top of his grade of 90), although I had to mess around a bit to keep at least some of the students together in the same class when that might have been implausible (I ended up only having Shino in another class, because he seemed the only one who was totally irrelevant at this stage). Oh, and Itachi didn't become a jounin at a prodigiously early age, that was Kakashi- Itachi was a _chuunin._

You may think these differences are trivial and I could have simply ignored them. Hell, a lot of fanfic writers completely mess with the details of the series for the hell of it, even when they're ostensibly using the canon setting. But one of the things that distinguishes For Love from Secret Songs of the Ninja is that it IS canon-compliant, so I'm damn well going to follow canon as much as I can (except when I change it for seriously good reasons, like increasing Hinata's age to something slightly more plausible at the start of the series). Blame my OCD, but if something's worth doing, it's worth doing as right as possible, and I like to think writing this fic is worth doing.

Anyway, chapter 8 is still coming along pretty well now I've done my required reading as it were and shouldn't take too long after this reupload, although as always I can't make any promises. I'm sorry for all the fuss and I hope you bear with me.

NEXT TIME:

Hinata has no time for study as tensions rise in Konoha. Attempting to get closer to the restless Uchiha clan brings her closer to its youngest son, but is there anything she can do to defuse the discontent that threatens to boil over into outright rebellion before there is no solution other than genocide? The life of a clan and the soul of a child hang in the balance in Chapter 8 of For Love, **'Digging for Secrets'.**

\- Arcane Azmadi, 2018


	8. Chapter 8 - Digging for Secrets

FOR LOVE.

 **Disclaimer:** I'm too old for this shit...

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CHAPTER 8: Digging for Secrets.

His class was certainly full of interesting people. He wondered if any of them would make good friends?

Uchiha Sasuke didn't have any friends his age. Oh, he was well-liked enough among the members of the Uchiha clan, if overshadowed by his brother Itachi, but even other children of Uchiha branch families were either much older or younger than he was. Itachi was probably the closest thing he had to a best friend, but even he barely had any time for him these days since he joined ANBU. Sasuke had been looking forward to starting at the Ninja Academy to finally become a ninja of Konoha like his brother and bring further honour to his clan, but he'd also been looking forward to it for the opportunity to make friends his own age at last.

There were a few other children of clan heads in his class, and Itachi had given him a heads-up about them. The alliance of the Nara, Yamanaka and Akimichi families had all produced children within a year of each other and they had all enrolled together. The second child of the dog-training Inuzuka clan was here as well.

Most importantly was Hyuuga Hinata, the eldest daughter of the Hyuuga clan. Itachi had, somewhat jokingly, warned him to watch out for her most of all. He'd been educated about the other ninja families of the village as a matter of course, but the Hyuuga were the only other clan that had the potential to rival the Uchiha as Konoha's foremost clan. Sasuke had overheard his father muttering to his mother about the presumption of the Hyuuga clan head, although there wasn't any _real_ bad blood there. Still, Sasuke couldn't shake the feeling that if any student in the class was positioned to be his rival, it was the representative from the Hyuuga clan, so he had studied the girl with interest when she'd introduced herself during their first day's lesson.

Hyuuga Hinata made an odd first impression. She was kind of generically cute but no great beauty (not that Sasuke cared about such things), with her only distinctive feature being her large, luminous white eyes. She affected a demeanour of quiet dignity that made her seem older than her six years of age, which Sasuke guessed was appropriate for the heir of a clan like the Hyuuga, which from what he gathered was even more old-fashioned and traditional than the Uchiha. However when he'd glanced in her direction during their lesson on chakra theory in the afternoon of that first day, he'd been surprised to see her apparently paying no attention to the teachers, instead looking around the classroom at the other students.

Was she some kind of airhead, or was there another reason she felt she could afford to pay so little attention to her studies? Sasuke had no time to ponder such things as he wouldn't allow himself to be distracted from his own learning, but it was still unexpected. Her presentation on the second day of class, on the other hand, painted her as a serious-minded girl with a strong sense of duty to the village. The contradiction was mystifying.

Even stranger was the company she kept. Hinata didn't spend time with any of the other girls in the class, who were rapidly forming little cliques of their own, but neither did she spend all her time alone. At first he'd assumed that the scruffy, blond-haired urchin sitting next to her had ended up there by chance, but by the second day it was startlingly apparent that Hyuuga Hinata and the boy called Uzumaki Naruto were already extremely good friends. Naruto baffled Sasuke. He didn't seem to come from any ninja family in Konoha and appeared to be a complete idiot. He talked big but was never able to back it up, and his very presence seemed to aggravate both of their teachers. Hinata seemed to be the only person he had any connection with- while most children had been dropped off at (and in some cases picked up from) the Academy by family members on the first few days and already had at least one or two friends among their peers, Naruto almost always came to class on his own and always departed together with the Hyuuga heir.

Sasuke couldn't help but wonder what the relationship between them was all about. Was Naruto some kind of ward of the Hyuuga clan? It certainly didn't seem so. He just seemed to be a grubby little nobody who hung around with the heiress to the second-most powerful clan in Konoha. Yet not only did Hinata tolerate his presence, but she treated him like an equal! Sasuke wasn't some elitist snob who liked to stand on social rank, but even at his young age he would have expected at least _some_ acknowledgement of the difference in the standing between the pair.

As the first few weeks of class went by, Sasuke found himself disappointed. For some reason, he found it impossible to make any friends among his new classmates. Most of the other boys his age already had friends there and continued to play with them during lunch time, making it hard for him to approach them, and the few who didn't seemed oddly wary of him. Most of the girls just giggled as they watched him from afar, which was both mystifying to him and unnerving in the extreme, but it wasn't as if he particularly wanted to make friends with them anyway- girls made him uncomfortable. Nobody was nasty to him, but no connection he made with his classmates managed to go beyond the purely superficial. Nara Shikamaru and Akimichi Choji kept to themselves. Inuzuka Kiba seemed to consider him a rival rather than a potential friend. He hadn't even bothered trying with Naruto. It was a depressing realisation for Sasuke that he might not end up making any friends here either.

However, Sasuke also came to another realisation: despite his first impressions, he'd been right to be concerned about Hyuuga Hinata. The Hyuuga scion didn't put herself forward or try to stand out (unlike her loud blond friend), but whenever she was tested in any way she met the challenge effortlessly. Any question asked of her was answered correctly and without hesitation and when training in taijutsu began (gender-segregated while they were starting out), Hinata was completely untouchable to any girl who sparred with her, even those from ninja families like Yamanaka Ino, who would have already been taught the basics at home. She didn't hurt them, she merely dodged or deflected any and all attacks directed at her with a strange taijutsu style Sasuke assumed to be unique to her family, then stepped into position where she would be able to unleash a decisive blow on her opponent and tapped them lightly to bring an end to it. It was somewhat intimidating even to Sasuke, who had immediately found himself at the head of the boys group. He couldn't shake the unnerving feeling that, once they started to engage in intergender sparring, he might not actually be able to beat her.

It was halfway through the second month of classes that the girl _really_ started to intrigue Sasuke, though.

The lesson for the afternoon was basic elemental ninjutsu. Sasuke absorbed the information conveyed by Yoko-sensei greedily, memorising the combinations of hand seals that would enable him to perform each technique. He'd already received some instruction in the basics of fire jutsu at home, as performance of the Great Fireball technique was considered a rite of passage among the Uchiha clan, but Itachi had impressed upon him that no opportunity to broaden his abilities should ever be pased up.

Haruki-sensei had been standing beside his partner as she'd written each technique on the board, allowed the students time to write it down and memorise it, before wiping it off to make room for more. He'd been scanning the room in silence, when he suddenly snapped "Uzumaki!" Naruto jumped guiltily. "Are you paying attention?" the teacher demanded.

Sasuke didn't think Naruto had been. Despite his boundless enthusiasm, the hapless blond boy had the attention span of a sparrow. Still, he was hardly the only one in the class- Inuzuka Kiba had been doodling in the back of his notebook and had jumped almost as high as Naruto when Haruki-sensei had spoken, and Nara Shikamaru hadn't even lifted his head off the table, so singling the blond boy out struck Sasuke as rather unfair, even if he _did_ choose to sit right down at the front. "Of-of course I was, Sensei!" Naruto protested indignantly.

"Oh, really?" the chuunin said, not bothering to disguise his scepticism. "Well then, I'm sure you can tell me the correct seals to perform _Katon: Ryuuka no Jutsu."_

Naruto stared at him like a deer gazing up an approaching avalanche. Yoko-sensei gave a quizzical look to her teaching partner, but shrugged dismissively and watched Naruto with everyone else. Sasuke's brow furrowed. He didn't know what exactly was going on, but this was _totally_ unfair. Regardless of whether Naruto had been paying attention or not, _he_ had been, and he was absolutely 100% certain that they'd never covered the Dragon Fire technique in any of their classes yet. It was a C-ranked fire technique, not devastatingy powerful but comparatively obscure and rarely-used compared to what they'd been learning, and even he had only heard it mentioned in passing.

Sasuke was on the verge of standing up and calling the teacher out on this when he noticed something strange. Hinata had turned to look at Naruto along with everyone else in the class, covering her mouth with her hand as if upset. But from his position in the seat behind the pair, Sasuke was able to see her lips moving slightly behind her fingers. As Haruki-sensei smirked, Naruto suddenly blinked, then smirked back at the adult and said "Snake, Dragon, Rabbit, Tiger. Right, Haruki-sensei?"

The smirk dribbled off the teacher's chubby face like wet paint on a wall that had been doused with a bucket of water and the tittering that had begun to rise around the room fell silent in an instant. Even Yoko-sensei looked astonished. "How-how did you-?" Haruki-sensei stammered.

"I'm paying attention, sensei," Naruto said, his smirk widening.

The teacher wavered, caught between a rock and a hard place. Either he had to back down from his student or he had to admit that he'd asked Naruto a mean-spirited trick question. The choice was taken from him when Yoko-sensei coughed meaningfully. "Correct, Uzumaki-kun," she said somewhat frostily, glaring at her coworker. "Now let's carry on with the lesson. Next is _Suiton: Mizurappa..."_

Sasuke stared at Hinata as the female instructor turned to write the hand seals for the Wild Water Wave on the board. The girl had saved her friend from public humiliation by whispering to him knowledge that she really shouldn't have had yet, even though, from what Sasuke had heard, the Hyuuga clan wasn't a great user of elemental jutsu like the Uchihas were. How much extracurricular training had Hyuuga Hinata undergone already? How much did she know?

Who _was_ this girl...?

oooOOOooo

"Excuse me, Hinata-san?"

The sound of her name made Hinata freeze. In the two-and-a-half months since she had started at the Academy she'd been steadily building up a clear picture of the political situation in Konoha as it related to the Uchiha clan through of a variety of methods ranging from chatting with gossipy housewives to stealthily eavesdropping on ANBU discussions, but she had so far avoided talking to Uchiha Sasuke himself. Possibly she could have taken the direct approach to the Uchiha clan by going through Sasuke, but the idea of exposing herself to their attention -and _his_ attention in particular- so openly made her nervous.

She was taken off-guard when Sasuke called out to her as she and Naruto walked out of the classroom together at the end of another school day, and even if there was no way he could know anything, hearing him address her directly put her on edge.

Keeping a carefully-controlled expression of polite enquiry on her face, she turned to face him. "Yes, Uchiha-san?" she said quietly. Naruto hovered by her side, glowering at Sasuke suspiciously.

The boy fidgeted nervously under their combined gaze, a strange sight to Hinata. "Um... Hinata-san?" he said. "I was wondering... if I could ask you about that thing from this afternoon's lesson. About that jutsu."

Hinata felt a chill run down her spine. _He noticed._ "Which jutsu was that, Uchiha-san?" she asked, stalling for time.

He licked his lips. "Um, the _Ryuuka no Jutsu._ Um. When Haruki-sensei asked, uh, Naruto-san about it earlier, you whispered the answer to him in secret. Um."

Hinata's mind raced, but before she could say anything Naruto stepped forward aggressively. "What, you think I didn't know the answer, Sasuke?" His blunt, borderline rude form of address made Sasuke flinch in surprise. "What makes you think I wasn't just paying attention to the lesson, huh?"

Hinata was silently grateful to Naruto for covering for her. She'd never explicitly explained to him why she wanted him to take credit for the sonic detonation seal, but he must have worked out on his own that people being aware of her abilities made her uncomfortable, even if he'd never stopped to ponder why. However Sasuke was undeterred. "Um, I'm sorry Naruto-san," he said awkwardly. Hinata was astonished at how unassuming and polite he was compared to what she remembered. "I'm afraid I was paying attention to the lesson and... we hadn't been taught _Ryuuka no Jutsu._ We've never been taught it. Haruki-sensei was asking you a trick question."

Naruto's jaw dropped. Hinata realised with a shock that Naruto hadn't actually grasped the extent of the bullying he'd been subjected to. He'd sincerely believed that he'd simply missed or forgotten about them being taught the seals for the Dragon Fire Technique. Sasuke continued. "Um, that's not a standard fire technique, Hinata-san. _I_ didn't even know the seals for it. I'm just wondering... how did you know it?"

She was about to open her mouth to answer when Naruto shifted even further forward, almost getting right into Sasuke's face. "Hey, why don't you mind your own business, huh? Even if Hinata-chan _does_ know more than you, there's nothing wrong with that!"

Sasuke almost recoiled in front of Naruto's bristling aggression, but caught himself, a scowl spreading across his normally-cheerful face. Reaching out, Hinata put a gentle hand on Naruto's arm. His protectiveness towards her was endearing, but unnecessary in this situation. "It's OK, Naruto-kun." He stepped back, hackles settling, but still glaring at Sasuke belligerently. "You're right, Uchiha-san. I thought what Haruki-sensei was doing was unfair, so I helped Naruto-kun answer. I learned about the _Ryuuka no Jutsu_ from my cousin Neji, who's at the top of his class in the grade above us, and goes out of his way to learn as much as he can in his spare time. He taught me at home."

Her explanation made Sasuke raise an eyebrow, but he nodded, apparently satisfied. "Ah, I see." It was a simple excuse, but Sasuke was still only a boy, not yet possessing the requisite paranoia ingrained in all experienced ninjas, the instinct to look underneath the underneath. "And do you want to be the top of our class too, Hinata-san?"

She blinked. "Um..." This wasn't something she'd even thought of. During her first time at the Academy she'd always hovered around the middle of the pack in regards to grades- she'd been studious, but inept at practical skills and too introverted to stand out. She'd been a great disappointment to her father, who'd abrogated all responsibility for her after her graduation to place her entirely in Kurenai-sensei's hands.

This time around she'd strived to live up to her father's expectations (aided by the admittedly unfair advantage of her fifteen years of experience), to great success. However she hadn't really given much thought to her position in the class, and in hindsight she hadn't given it _enough_ thought. With her knowledge and experience she could easily top her class, which would certainly make her father proud of her, but might also draw unwanted attention to her. Sasuke at least had already taken note of her abilities and started asking inconvenient questions.

"I... don't have any particular desire to be the best, Uchiha-san," she said carefully. Sasuke was only six, but he was still very bright for his age and she had to watch what she said in front of him. "I just need to be the best that I can be for my family, friends and village. Being number one isn't important to me." She shifted uncomfortably. "And I don't really think I could be anyway."

"That's not right, Hinata-chan!" Hinata almost jumped at Naruto's outburst. For a moment she'd almost forgotten he was there. Her friend was glaring at her, not angrily, but almost as if he was challenging her. "You're the best, Hinata-chan, so you should be number one! You shouldn't settle for less just because Sasuke is intimidated by you!"

Hinata stared at him, speechless with surprise, while Sasuke glared at him. Naruto was unphased. "What? You got a problem, Sasuke?"

"Maybe Hinata-san _is_ very skilled," Sasuke shot back, "but I don't have to take that from a talentless nobody like you!"

Naruto growled furiously, stepping forward to get into Sasuke's face again. Sasuke's posture subtly shifted, not raising his fists yet, but giving all indications that fist-raising was only an instant away. Quick as a whip, Hinata slipped into the narrowing space between the two boys, interposing herself between them and placing a gentle but firm hand against Naruto's chest. "Please don't fight!" she implored them.

Her tone had been gentle, but Naruto shrank back like a scolded puppy. Sasuke deflated and he looked momentarily shamefaced at his loss of temper. Hinata took advantage of the reprieve. "Naruto-kun, I appreciate your confidence in me, but there's no need to be rude to Uchiha-san." She turned to the other boy. "Uchiha-san, you shouldn't judge Naruto-kun so easily. He's..." She considered how much to say. "He's far from talentless and he's-" She bit off the words _"not a nobody"_ in case Sasuke asked exactly who Naruto was, and instead finished with "-going to prove himself to everyone."

Sasuke looked apologetic. "Alright, Hinata-san. I'm sorry." Naruto stuck his tongue out at him and Sasuke glared, but didn't rise to the bait. "But I'm still going to top this class. I need to live up to my brother."

In an instant, a terrifying idea struck her and Hinata went very still. _Do I dare? Approaching Sasuke directly might already be risky enough, but..._ "I've... heard of your brother, Uchiha-san," she said, trying to keep a quaver out of her voice. "Um..." Both boys looked at her curiously. Hinata struggled with herself, torn between boldness and fear. Boldness won out. "I'd be interested in... meeting Itachi-san. He's a role model for young shinobi like us."

Naruto gave his friend a strange look, but Sasuke didn't notice. He beamed. "Oh, that's... that'd be cool, Hinata-san! Uh, would you like to come and meet him today? I think he'll be home soon." A shiver ran down Hinata's spine. _So soon? Still, better sooner than later, or even too late._ The boy made a face. "Uh... Naruto can come too, if he wants."

She hadn't thought of that. Going to meet Itachi in person was hazardous enough already, bringing Naruto with them put it on a whole different level. It wasn't like the Uchiha district was a hotbed of revolution, or that Itachi had already thrown his lot in with Akatsuki, but Naruto's presence would be unwelcome at best and would attract unwanted attention at worst. Most people in Konoha who were aware of Naruto's secret only considered him with disdain or fear, at best an unwelcome reminder of past tragedy, at worst a potential threat, but those with ill intentions towards the village might see something different if he appeared before them, possibly even an opportunity.

Fortunately Naruto solved the problem for her. "I don't wanna," he said sullenly. Hinata stared at him in surprise. Naruto was glaring at Sasuke again. "I'm not interested in Sasuke's brother. I gotta go home and study." He looked at her defiantly. "You go with him if you want, Hinata. I'll see you tomorrow."

She blinked, confused. "Um... OK then...? Um, I'll see you tomorrow, Naruto-kun." The boy scowled at Sasuke one last time and sloped off. Hinata watched him go in confusion. _I wonder what's gotten into Naruto all of a sudden?_ she wondered. _He obviously has a problem with Sasuke, but he almost seemed to be upset with me too there._

 _Wait... he isn't..._ jealous, _is he...?_

Sasuke stood by nervously. "Um, shall we go?"

Reluctantly she dropped thoughts of Naruto from her mind to prepare for what was coming up. "Right behind you, Uchiha-san."

oooOOOooo

Hinata was a bundle of nerves as she followed Sasuke through the streets of Konoha towards the Uchiha district. She'd stopped to give Neji a message about where she was going before she and Sasuke had left the Academy, knowing her family would panic if they did not know her whereabouts. As it stood, they would not approve of what she was doing and she would undoubtedly find herself in some trouble when she got home, but it wasn't the thought of a chastisement from her father that was making her sweat.

She was off the road and traveling without a map here. She had never actually met Uchiha Itachi before, but as long as she had known his name it had been as one of Konoha's greatest and most-feared criminals and a member of Akatsuki, the most powerful collection of renegade shinobi the world had ever seen. Knowing the reason behind his massacre of the Uchiha clan, Hinata knew that in truth he wasn't a bad person -he was, indeed, one of Konoha's most-loyal shinobi, putting his duty to the village even ahead of his family- but even if she had nothing to fear from him, it was impossible not to be intimidated. And even if there was absolutely no realistic chance of discontented Uchiha clan elements trying anything with her, she knew there was rebellion brewing here. She had to be careful not to do or say anything that might be construed as provocative.

The Uchiha quarter was vast, an entire suburb of Konoha unto itself, sectioned off behind a stone wall patterned with their clan crest. She felt curious eyes on her as she passed through the gates and followed Sasuke through the streets, but her presence was, fortunately, not attracting any hostility. A few people even called out cheerfully to Sasuke as they passed, to which he responded with equal cheer. Hinata was struck by a sudden aching realisation of how ordinary and happy Sasuke's life had been before it had -and unless she did something, _would-_ all come crashing down around him. All these people would soon be dead, and the boy walking in front of her would be left alone in the world.

Sasuke stopped in front of a house that was larger and more expensive-looking than the other ones in the street and gestured at entrance. "This is my home." Hinata studied the two-storey house with interest. Although she knew the Uchiha clan weren't as rigidly old-fashioned as her own family, she'd still expected Sasuke to live in a walled compound comparable to her own home, if not larger. But of course, she had it backwards. Being a larger and more-powerful clan, the wealth of the Uchiha was more spread around the entire extended family, making the entire district their home compound. This building just happened to be the house the clan head and his family occupied.

Sasuke slid the door open and entered his home. Hinata hesitated a second, then steeled herself and followed him in. The two children removed their sandals, Sasuke stowing his in a shoe cabinet, Hinata placing hers by the front step in the space reserved for visitors. As she straightened up again, an attractive woman with long, glossy black hair stepped into the entrance hall. From the family resemblance and the way Sasuke beamed at the sight of her, she could be no-one else but his mother. "Welcome home, Sasuke," she greeted them warmly. "And who is this? One of your friends from school?"

Hinata bowed politely. "Uh, yeah Mom, this is Hyuuga Hinata," Sasuke introduced her. His mother raised an elegant eyebrow in surprise as she took a proper look at Hinata, immediately noticing her pale white eyes. "You know, from the Hyuuga clan?" he elaborated unnecessarily. "She was interested in meeting Nii-san. Is he home at the moment?"

The Uchiha matriarch pursed her lips. "I'm afraid not, dear. He should be back some time this afternoon, though." She squared up to Hinata and smiled welcomingly. "Nice to meet you, Hinata-chan. I'm Uchiha Mikoto. Thank you for making friends with my son."

Things suddenly became just a bit more complicated and just a lot more awkward. Hinata didn't know quite what to say to that. Fortunately Sasuke did. "Aw, Mom!" he protested, blushing. "Hinata-san isn't, uh, _quite_ my friend, she's my rival!" He flushed even deeper as his mother gave him a look that was half-quizzical, half-disapproving. "She's, uh, she's the only student who can compete with me for the number one position in the class."

Mikoto smiled knowingly. "Oh, just what we should expect from the heiress of the Hyuuga clan. A rival is just what you need to drive you to grow stronger, Sasuke."

"I don't need anyone else to make me want to be as strong as I can be," Sasuke protested indignantly. "I already want to be as strong as Nii-san. And-" He cut himself off and sullenly fell silent.

Mikoto rolled her eyes, but smiled indulgently. "Well either way, If you're going to wait for Itachi then take Hinata-chan to the living room. I'll bring you some snacks."

Hinata bowed again. "Thank you for your hospitality, Mikoto-sama."

"Oh my, such good manners," Mikoto chuckled, covering her mouth with one hand in mock-astonishment. "You're a well-brought-up child, Hinata-chan. Please, try to become friends with my son, even if he is shy and too serious for his own good."

Blushing furiously, Sasuke headed past his mother into the house. "Come on, Hinata-san, let's go to the living room." Wondering what she'd gotten herself into, Hinata followed him.

oooOOOooo

While the Uchiha head's house wasn't as individually large as her own family's, the interior decor was quite similar, with tatami matting and shoji screens that opened out onto a traditional garden. Hinata and Sasuke sat on _zabuton_ cushions around a low table, Hinata in perfect _seiza_ , Sasuke in a more casual cross-legged manner. An awkward silence hung in the air. From the way Sasuke was eyeing her uneasily, particularly the way he glanced at her neatly-folded knees, Hinata couldn't shake the feeling that the Uchiha was oddly even more intimidated by her in his own home than he was at school. Even if the Uchiha didn't set as much store by tradition and formality as her own clan, Hinata's flawless grasp of traditional etiquette (the one advantage she did have the first time around, for all the good it had done her) apparently made him feel comparably uncouth and low-class, especially in light of his own mother's approval of hrr manners.

The thought struck her that maybe she should sit cross-legged instead to try and put him more at ease. But it was too late for that now. If she changed the way she sat, he'd _know_ she was doing it for his benefit and it would only make him _more_ self-conscious.

Sasuke cleared his throat awkwardly. "So... Hinata-san. Uh... do you want to, uh, talk about something?"

A sudden flash of inspiration hit her. "Um, how about our homework?" she suggested brightly. "Yoko-sensei said we'd be tested on seal forming speed tomorrow. Would you like to practice?".

Sasuke brightened up at the suggestion. "Uh, OK, that sounds like a neat idea. How do you want to do it?" Hinata explained how each of them would take turns to make a series of ten seals, and the other one would have to repeat them back as fast as they could without making a mistake. It was a game she'd already played with Naruto several times since school began and she'd noticed a small but noticeable increase in his speed and confidence as a result.

A few minutes later, Uchiha Mikoto slid open the shoji to find her younger son and their guest sitting opposite each other, furiously forming hand seals. "Tiger, crane, ram, crane, tiger, dragon-" Hinata chanted as he fingers flickered through the motions.

Sasuke's hands flashed as he repeated Hinata's seals with flawless precision. "-ram, crane, tiger, dragon-oh hello, Mother," he exclaimed when he saw her.

"You two are doing well, I see," Mikoto observed with a smile, setting the tray in her hands down on the table. As well as two cups that were filled with, judging from the smell, iced tea, there was also a small plate with two sticks of three an-dango sitting on it. Hinata couldn't keep her mouth from salivating a bit at the sight of the dumplings dripping with sweet sauce. "Practicing seals? Who's doing better?"

Sasuke blushed slightly as he reached for the sweets. "We're dead even at the moment, Mom." And it was true, the two of them were both performing and returning the seals at a consistant rate of just under two per second without missing a beat, which was truly astonishing for first-year Academy students. Hinata marveled at Sasuke's raw talent- even before tragedy had driven him towards an obsession with strength at any cost, he would been an amazingly strong shinobi anyway. Of course, she wasn't going all-out (her top speed was slightly over _three_ seals per second, which was pretty good for any shinobi), but that took nothing away from how good her training partner was.

The Uchiha clan matriarch smiled encouragingly as Hinata helped herself to the other stick of dango. "Well I'm just letting you know that I heard your father and brother talking to Michio-san out the front, so they'll be here any second. Itachi will be going out again later -he said this morning that he has an ANBU meeting- but he should have a few minutes to spare for you at least."

Sasuke leapt excitedly to his feet and Hinata's heart leapt into her throat. She'd almost forgotten what she'd come here for. Swallowing the second dango, she laid the stick carefully down as Sasuke turned to her. "Come on Hinata-san, let's go meet them," he said eagerly and rushed past his mother into the hall. Nervously, Hinata looked up Uchiha Mikoto, who smiled reassuringly, and followed her classmate.

It was time to meet the biggest mass-murderer in Konoha's history.

oooOOOooo

Uchiha Itachi took note of the pair of unfamiliar sandals sitting in the entryway as he he put his own pair away in the shoe cupboard beside his father's. Judging from their size, Sasuke must have brought a friend home from school.

That would be nice. Itachi loved his little brother dearly, but Sasuke's co-dependance on him was doing him no good. With a nearly six year age gap between them, Sasuke needed friends of his own age. And with this trouble that seemed to be brewing in the clan, Itachi was going to have even less time to spend with him than usual.

No sooner had he completed the thought than Sasuke bounced out into the entry hall excitedly. "Welcome home, Father, Nii-san!" he greeted them. Itachi smiled slightly, and although their father only nodded stoically, Itachi's sharp vision detected a telltale twitch in his facial muscles as Uchiha Fugaku strove to maintain his stern facade against his urge to smile at his younger son.

Before either of them could reply, another short figure stepped demurely out behind Sasuke. Itachi's eyebrows shot up. The identity of their young guest was immediately obvious from her pale skin, dark hair and pearly white eyes. But why was the daughter of the Hyuuga clan here?

The young girl bowed politely, but nervously. "Ah... good afternoon, Uchiha-sama-" She turned to Itachi."-Itachi-san. I am Hyuuga Hinata."

Fugaku nodded stoically in response, his face unreadable, but Itachi could tell the girl's appearance had startled his father just as much as it had him, if not more. "Welcome to our home, Hyuuga-san," he said evenly. "Why have you come to visit us today?"

"She wanted to come and meet Itachi, dear," Uchiha Mikoto put in, stepping into the entry hall behind the two children. "Sasuke told her about what a prodigy he is and she hopes he could give her an example to help her become a great shinobi." In front of her, both Hinata and Sasuke nodded confirmation.

While he kept his expression neutral, Itachi groaned inside. While he was please with his burgeoning reputation as the best ninja of his generation because of how proud it made his parents, he was never comfortable with being held up as some kind of paragon that others should strive to emulate. Even Sasuke, as much as Itachi was happy to help him whenever he had time (which was depressingly infrequently as of late), should be striving to grow up to be himself, not trying to be Uchiha Itachi mk. 2.

Still, he had a few minutes to spare until he had to go out again, and there wasn't any harm in giving some advice to a young girl still in her first semester at the Academy. And truth be told, he found himself intrigued as to why the heir to the Hyuuga clan had been willing to come home with Sasuke as well.

His father glanced questioningly at him, and Itachi nodded his agreement. Putting on a smile, he stepped forward. "Certainly, Hinata-san. I'd love to answer any questions you might have that would help you grow up to become a strong shinobi of Konoha. And you, Sasuke?" His little brother nodded eagerly, eyes shining with admiration.

The three of them settled back in the living room where the children had been waiting before, while Fugaku went into the kitchen to talk with his wife. Itachi noticed the difficulty with which Sasuke awkwardly attempted to imitate the _seiza_ posture he and Hinata both adopted and managed to keep himself from smiling. "So, what was it you wanted to ask me about?" he asked.

Despite her clear experience with sitting on her legs, Hinata shifted uncomfortably on her cushion. "Um..." she began hesitantly, "I was hoping you could tell me... what does it mean to you to be a Konoha shinobi?"

The question surprised Itachi. He'd been expecting something shallower and more immediate, like tips about ninjutsu or genjutsu, or questions about exciting missions he'd been on. For a six-year old first-year Academy student, Hyuuga Hinata asked very deep questions.

Itachi carefully thought over the question he'd been asked for several seconds. Sasuke was leaning forward, awaiting his answer with intense interest as well. He had to make it a good one. "I believe that when you're a shinobi of Konoha," he began carefully, "you become a part of the village itself. You're not an employee of the village, and no longer are you merely a resident, you are Konoha and Konoha is you. We are all bound together as one by the Will of Fire and we willingly live and die for the good of the village, and for the good of each other."

"What's the Will of Fire?" Sasuke asked eagerly. "Is it some kind of jutsu?"

Itachi smiled at his little brother indulgently. "No, Sasuke. The Will of Fire is the unseen, intangible connection that ties us all together as a single community, like a giant family, to move towards a single goal for the betterment of all of us. It is the _spirit_ of Konoha, the philosophy of cooperation that is the basis of the entire village, bigger than Uchiha or Hyuuga or any of the other clans that make up the village."

Sasuke's brow furrowed questioningly. "Hold on, Nii-san... you're saying that Konoha is more important than family?"

His words made Itachi hesitate momentarily. He'd openly spoken his beliefs about the village, but his brother's question had raised the spectre of the Uchiha clan's current position and their rising discontent. Itachi was well aware of the rebellious rumblings within the clan, and as part of ANBU he was equally aware that the clan's dissatisfaction had not gone entirely unnoticed by the Hokage and the village council, no matter how surreptitious the agitators thought they were being. Itachi knew that if, as Sasuke seemed to be implying, he was forced to choose between village and family, there was no choice other than the village. But stating such a thing directly to Sasuke's young, guileless face was no small matter. At six years old, Sasuke's family was his entire world. This would require some care.

"Konoha _is_ family," he finally said. "Konoha is the great family of the Leaf, and all the shinobi families and clans within it are the members of that family. Saying the Uchiha clan is more important than the village would be like saying that I, or any other individual for that matter, is more important than the Uchiha clan. Loyalty to your family is, de facto, loyalty to the village."

Sasuke nodded uncertainly, seemingly accepting Itachi's words, but when he glanced across at Hinata, Itachi was almost taken aback to see the look on her face. The Hyuuga girl's white eyes seemed to be shining with admiration as she watched him, hanging on his every word.

"I think I understand, Itachi-san," she said. "To be a ninja of Konoha is to be a part of something bigger and better than yourself, right? The Will of Fire is what makes us all part of Konoha."

"Nicely put, Hinata-san," Itachi agreed, silently impressed. "Do you understand, Sasuke?"

"I... I think so, Nii-san," his little brother said reluctantly. Itachi noted that Sasuke seemed somewhat bothered by the concept of the Will of Fire, discomfited at the thought of putting _anything_ else ahead of his family.

That was alright. He'd understand one day.

"Do you have any more questions, Hinata-san?" he asked, mentally checking how much time he had left before his meeting.

The girl pondered for a few seconds. "Um... yes, one more. What do you do when you have to make a difficult decision about something... big, something that could affect other people's lives in ways you might not be sure of? How do you know whether or not you're doing the right thing?"

Another intensely difficult question. The girl was starting to unsettle Itachi just the tiniest bit. He wondered what was going on in her head to make her ask about such deep matters. The answer to this one was, at least, easier than the first one, even if the answer was less encouraging. "I'm afraid there's never any way to know for sure whether what you're doing is the right thing or not until you see the consequences for yourself." He paused momentarily as a painful memory burned in his mind. "Sometimes it looks like there's no right choice, that people will be hurt no matter what you do. And sometimes that's true. In the worst case, you may end up determining who lives and dies, without even really knowing what the choices were."

He took a deep breath, both children staring at him in rapt fascination. "But you can't help this ignorance. You still have to make the decisions if you want to be a ninja. So if you really can't determine what the best choice is, you just have to follow your heart. Whether you're guided by duty or friendship or pragmatism or logic or self-interest or compassion, if you don't stick to your principles then whatever decision you make will be wrong.

"And you have to be firm in your decision-making," he continued. "Every moment you hesitate only limits your ability to choose, and even choosing to do nothing is still a choice. So as long as you make your decision boldly, as long as you did what your heart told you was the right thing, as long as you made the decision that was right for you, then you've done the right thing. Even if it was a mistake. _Own_ your mistakes, because they were yours. You can regret a mistake, but as long as you believed you did the right thing then you shouldn't be ashamed of it."

Looking from one of his impromptu students to the other, Itachi was pleased to note that Sasuke was looking more comfortable with this nugget of wisdom than he had with the discussion about the Will of Fire. To his surprise, though, this time it was Hinata who looked perturbed by his words. Curiously he went over what he'd said in his head, wondering what among his words might have bothered the girl. Maybe she was upset by his assertion that there was no sure-fire way to know how to make the correct decision? Considering that was, ultimately, what she'd initially asked, it seemed likely.

He hoped the girl wouldn't grow up to become one of those people who were paralyzed by indecision for fear of making a mistake. He'd done his best to warn her about the dangers of that line of thinking; the most he could hope now was that she'd listen and understand.

Itachi rose gracefully to his feet as his internal clock warned him that he needed to get moving to avoid being late for his meeting. "I'm sorry, but I don't have any more time to talk at the moment," he explained apologetically. Both of his impromptu students wore expressions of dismay, but there seemed to be a subtle difference between Sasuke's look of wistful longing and the Hyuuga girl's one of... failure? Once again, Itachi felt that eerie sensation that there was more to this girl than there initially seemed.

Supressing her expression again, Hinata bowed respectfully to Itachi from her seiza position. "Thank you very much for your time, Itachi-san. Your words were very helpful to me. I hope to one day become a ninja as strong as you."

"Yeah, me too, Nii-san," Sasuke chimed in enthusiastically. "Thanks a lot." Itachi gave a small smile in response to his little brother's beaming face. He may not have the time to train extensively with Sasuke these days, but the ability to give him guidance like this helped satisfy him that he could still fulfill his obligations as an elder brother.

Unexpectedly, his mother's voice spoke up behind him. "Well I'm sorry to interrupt you, but I need to let you know. Hinata-chan, there's someone at the door from your clan who's come to pick you up."

The girl blushed as she reluctantly climbed to her feet as well. "Oh... that's probably Ko-san." She bowed politely to first Mikoto, then to Itachi, not displaying any signs of discomfort from spending an extended period sitting in _seiza_ , unlike Sasuke who wobbled a little as he stood up, his legs wracked by pins and needles. "Thank you for you your hospitality, Mikoto-sama, and thank you for your time, Itachi-san."

Itachi's mother smiled. "You're very welcome, Hinata-chan. Feel free to visit again anytime."

Just before Hinata left the loungeroom a step ahead of Itachi, she turned back and waved to his little brother, who was standing awkwardly by the table. "See you in class tomorrow, Sasuke-san."

Sasuke returned the wave nervously. "See you tomorrow, Hinata-san."

As they both walked through the house towards the entrance, Itachi mused that it would indeed be nice if Sasuke and the Hyuuga girl became friends. He had a feeling that the time might be coming when his brother would benefit from having friends outside the clan.

oooOOOooo

Hinata couldn't help sulking as she stalked home, ignoring Ko's attempts to chastise her for visiting the Uchiha clan without consulting her family first. She was certain to get another earful from her father anyway, so listening twice would be a dreadful waste of ear.

The encounter with Uchiha Itachi had been... interesting to say the least. Enlightening. And if Hinata was honest, somewhat disturbing.

She'd never met the man in her own timeline, never had the opportunity to ask him why he'd slaughtered every man, woman and child in his clan with the sole exception of his younger brother. But from what he had said to her and Sasuke, he'd done it in the absolute conviction that it had been the right thing to do. That even if he was tormented by having to cut down his own mother and father, he hadn't regretted it because it would ultimately protect the village.

And he'd been wrong.

Hinata had seen the future that had come from Itachi's decision. Sasuke, consumed by revenge, defecting from Konoha to side with its enemies. The village, devastated by Akatsuki, the group Itachi had joined after his desertion. The world, about to be subsumed into the Infinite Tsukiyomi by the madness of Uchiha Madara. To place all these solely at the feet of Uchiha Itachi and his decision to wipe out his entire clan except for Sasuke would be neither accurate nor fair. But still, with her special advantage of hindsight, Hinata could only call his decision mistaken. Conviction alone was not enough.

What really bothered Hinata wasn't just that Itachi's conviction of the rightness of his actions was unshakeable. It was how readily Sasuke had accepted his brother's argument that it was less important whether you are right or wrong as long as you were _certain._ Perhaps that wasn't what Itachi had _meant,_ but she'd seen the fanatical conviction possessed by Sasuke in the future when he swore to destroy Konoha and massacre its people to satisfy his warped interpretation of "justice".

Still, it was clear that the key to preventing the Uchiha massacre and changing Sasuke's life lay in somehow convincing Itachi that it would not be in Konoha's best interests. Unfortunately, he would be unlikely to take heed of a young Academy student, especially when it conflicted with what he heard from his superiors.

Should she start looking at Konoha's leadership instead? While their group had never managed to fully untangle the sequence of events leading up to the massacre (and Sasuke had never sat down with them to explain what he'd found out), Shikamaru had uncovered rumours that Shimura Danzo, the head of ROOT whose succession to the position of Hokage after Tsunade's death had been the catalyst for their own desertion, had been associating with Itachi before it had taken place. Given Danzo's well-known ruthlessness and willingness to sacrifice those he saw as "expendable" for Konoha's survival (as attested to by Sai), it was almost a certainty that he was involved somehow.

But she'd have even less chance of influencing Danzo than she would Itachi himself. If she attempted to bring her knowledge of future events to him (regardless of whether she presented it as foresight or hindsight), there was no way of knowing what he would do to her in the name of promoting Konoha's interests, irrespective of who her family was. Danzo was _dangerous,_ possibly more dangerous than Itachi, although possibly not as dangerous as-

Her breath caught in her throat excitedly and she stopped dead in the middle of the street. Ko's lecture was sharply cut off as he pulled up behind her, startled. "Hinata-sama?"

She still could not be sure how the Third Hokage would respond to the possibility of a coup by the Uchiha weighed against the annihilation of the entire clan, but there was one thing she was certain _would_ get his attention, _would_ undoubtedly get a positive reaction. Uchiha Itachi had not acted alone in the extermination of his family. He'd had the secret assistance of the man he would follow for the rest of his life, the secret leader of Akatsuki. The man who had freed the Kyuubi on the day of Naruto's birth, resulting in the deaths of not only Naruto's parents but Sarutobi Hiruzen's wife Biwako. The long assumed dead leader of the Uchiha clan himself. The man who, if she could not do enough to oppose him, would destroy everything Hinata had ever held dear.

Uchiha Madara.

oooOOOooo

"...I am not telling you that you should not associate with Uchiha Sasuke," Hiashi continued sternly. "I permitted you to befriend Uzumaki Naruto, and so far neither you nor he have given me reason to regret that decision." Hinata felt a small burst of happiness at her father's approval. "Indeed, most people would say that Sasuke is far more suitable as a companion for someone of your social status than Naruto is." She briefly found herself wondering whether anyone actually had advanced such a suggestion to Hiashi, or whether he was just speaking hypothetically? "By all means be friendly with the boy. The village was founded based on the web of alliances between several powerful shinobi families, of which the Uchiha were one of the foremost. But," he warned her, "do not associate too closely with the Uchiha clan itself. You are too young to become involved with village politics yet, but people might talk."

 _This is interesting._ "Are you saying the Uchiha family might be... up to something?" Hinata probed cautiously. It hadn't ocurred to her before that others might have had suspicions about the Uchihas before the massacre, but if any other clan might have had an inkling, it made sense that it would be the Hyuuga.

Her father shot her a hard look. "I do not, Hinata, and you shall not mention such wild ideas to anyone!" He settled somewhat. "However, there does seem to be an undercurrent of discontent among the Uchiha regarding their position in the village. My concern is only that some among them may see in you potential for leverage in order to advance their interests, and I do not want you involved."

 _I wonder what kind of things Father is concerned about?_ Hinata mused. _Is he worried someone in the Uchiha clan might try to threaten me to coerce him into supporting them?_ A quirky idea struck her. _Maybe he thinks Fugaku-san would try to push for an arranged marriage between myself and Sasuke?_ The idea was so patently ludicrous that she had to struggle not to break out in a fit of giggles. _Although frankly it seems more likely that Mikoto-san would be the one to suggest that._ Her lip twitched as she suppressed a smile.

"Do you understand, Hinata?" her father demanded and she nodded, an idea sparking in her mind.

"I understand, Father," she stated obediently. "But..." She hesitated theatrically to get his attention before continuing. "...when I met Itachi-san I got this strange feeling... like I'd seen him somewhere before, even though I'm sure we'd never met. As if..." She deliberately trailed off, leaving Hiashi to draw his own conclusions.

He raised a single questioning eyebrow, then his face went pale... or paler, anyway. "You... did you have another one of your... visions, Hinata? Is that where you saw him, Uchiha Itachi?" Ever since Hinata had "predicted" his brother's death the head of the Hyuuga clan had taken the contents of his daughters dreams very seriously, although Hinata had not used this advantage in the year since. He also seemed to dislike calling them "dreams", as if he found the term unscientific.

Hinata shifted uncomfortably. _Planting seeds, not starting fires. Not yet._ "I... I'm not sure, Father. I haven't had any really vivid dreams like... _that_ time, but... I just got a feeling from him. As if... there was a cloud around him. It... felt like I should know him, even though I'd never seen him before.

Hiashi sat back on his _zabuton,_ tapping one finger against his cheek as he contemplated Hinata's vague but ominous words. Hinata waited patiently. Finally, her father clapped his hands down on his thighs and leaned forward. "You should stay away from him, Hinata. But if you do see him in a vision, let me know straight away." He straightened up. "As for Sasuke, by all means be friendly with him in class. But if he invites you to visit his family again, politely decline."

"Yes, Father," she said obediently. A thought struck her. "Would it be possible for me to invite him around here instead, Father?"

The Hyuuga clan head blinked, surprised at his daughter's question. It suddenly occurred to Hinata how strange this request must have seemed to him. After all, she'd never even asked if she could have Naruto come and visit before, although in his case it was because she genuinely didn't think he'd enjoy being in the stifling environment of the Hyuuga household when she was able to freely meet him in Konoha instead. But dealing with Sasuke was a matter of business, not pleasure.

Hiashi sighed with quiet resignation. "Very well Hinata, they allowed you to visit their household, so it would be proper for you to repay the favour. Once." He shifted in a manner that indicated the lecture was over. "Run along now. I will see you at dinner."

Hinata bowed, rose from the _zabuton_ and departed, her mind plotting furiously.

oooOOOooo

The meeting dispersed as quietly as it had convened, the Uchiha clan members slipping out of the secret meeting hall and returning silently to their homes. Uchiha Fugaku remained alone in the dark hall, the last to leave in accordance with tradition.

However, not every participant in the meeting headed directly back to their beds. Two figures lingered in the shadow of the wall which surrounded the Uchiha quarter, away from all the houses and hidden from the moonlight, warily looking around them to ensure nobody else was in sight before holding a hushed discussion.

"You have the same concern as I do?" the first one asked.

"I do," his compatriot confirmed. "Itachi definitely doesn't seem to be acting normally. He hides it well, but he seems... squeamish when he mentions the-" The man checked himself and looked around nervously before continuing in an even lower voice than before. "-the coup. I don't believe he's one-hundred percent behind us on this."

The other man nodded soberly. "When we had had inducted into ANBU we were hoping he would function as an inside man for us. But instead it seems that he may have been tempted to put the village ahead of his own family." He shifted uncomfortably. "I'm not saying he's going to betray us, but we can't risk an undertaking as... bold as this without the total guaranteed commitment of every member of the clan."

"So what should we do?" the second man asked. "Fugaku-sama isn't going to like to hear these suspicions. You know how proud he is of his boy."

The first speaker pondered for a moment. "There may not be any need to bother Fugaku-sama with this at all. Until we know for sure that Itachi is going to oppose the clan, maybe it will be enough to just keep an eye on him."

His companion nodded thoughtfully. "You may be right. Someone just as talented as he is, but who he trusts and would be willing to allow close to him. There is only one candidate, of course."

"Shisui," agreed the first man. "They've been best friends for years. But are you sure we can count on _him_ to faithfully report on Itachi?"

The other man snorted. "Of course we can! Shisui's loyalty is complete and absolute. He would never put his friendship ahead of the welfare of the clan. I'll talk to him tomorrow and tell him to watch over Itachi, let us know if he does anything suspicious."

With that concluded, the two men moved from their shadowy position onto the street, heading towards their homes. "I'm sure we have nothing to worry about, really," the first man muttered as they walked. "I'm sure Itachi would never betray us. But better safe than sorry, right?"

The other man nodded. "As you say. For the Uchiha clan."

The two conspirators finally separated and went their own way. Despite their confidence, both scuttled home as if they feared the night itself was listening to their plotting.

TO BE CONTINUED...

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AFTERWORD:

This is proving to be the most-difficult part of the fic for me to write, largely because it's dealing with my absolute LEAST-favourite part of the _Naruto_ manga. As I've often mentioned to anyone who would listen, the twist that Itachi was actually a good guy all along was the point where, to me at least, the series Jumped The Shark. It felt like it came out of nowhere, and was one of the most-gratuitous examples of Masashi Kishimoto making up a major aspect of the series' backstory WAY too late in the writing process (when Itachi made his first canon appearance in the manga he was _blatantly_ obviously a real villain, his actions being completely irreconcilable with the later revelations). It also completely lopsided the series' morality in major way, but Kishimoto didn't seem to _realise_ that it had- Sasuke lost any remaining traces of sympathy and the Uchiha clan as a whole became the real villains of the story (and this was _before_ we learned that "Madara" was really Obito, wanting to kill everyone because "the girl I had a one-sided crush on died and that makes me SAAAAAAAAAD!1!one!), but the manga still tried to treat it like "both sides have a point" when they really didn't. It didn't help that the whole fiasco with Shisui and Danzo was a nonsensical mess full of plot holes which made my head hurt (and Danzo is an awful character who ruins literally absolutely EVERYTHING he touches without a single exception). As a result, this is part of the series I didn't really commit to memory and never reread because I preferred to ignore it- which comes back to bite me now I have to _write_ about it.

I don't really have that much to say about this chapter. I haven't been writing that well in general over the last year, although I finally managed to at least kick off the next chapter of _Secret Songs_ , even if I haven't made much tangible progress yet. I can't really promise much, so I just have to beg your indulgence and hope you will bear with me.

NEXT TIME...

Events come to a boiling point as the shadowy forces in Konoha begin to move against each other. Hinata dances on thin ice to try and prevent catastrophe, but when push comes to shove will she be forced to act openly to save a soul? The fate of the Uchiha clan and the future of Konoha hang in the balance in Chapter 9 of For Love, **'Blood for Betrayal'.**

\- Arcane Azmadi, 2019


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